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UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

LIBRARY 


V    ' 


LEGENDS 


—  OF 


MA-UI-A  DEMI  GOD 


OF 


POLYNESIA 


AND  OF 


HIS  MOTHER  HINA. 


BY 


W.  D.  WESTERVELT. 


HONOLULU: 

THE  HAWAIIAN  GAZETTE  CO.,  LTD. 
1910 


,*  .  :.•..*.'' .• 


•  •  •  •     , 

•  •       •  • 


•  • •  • •  • 


CONTENTS 

^       CHAPTER  PAGE 

♦v                I.  Maui's   Home    3 

11.  Maui  the  Fisherman 12 

III.  Maui  Lifting  the  Sky 31 

%              IV.  Maui  Snaring  the  Sun 40 

JT              V.  Maui   Finding  Fire 56 

VI.  Maui  the  Skillful 78 

VII.  Maui  and  Tuna 91 

VIII.  Maui  and  His  Brother-in-Law 101 

IX.  Maui's   Kite-Flying    112 

X.  Oahu  Legends  of  Maui 119 

XI.  Maui    Seeking   Immortality 128 

V           Xn.  Hina  of  Hilo 139 

^         XIII.  Hina  and  the  Wailuku  River 146 

XIV.  The  Ghosts  of  the  Hilo  Hills 155 

XV.  Hina,  the  Woman  in  the  Moon 165 

iii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

OPrOSITE 
PAGE 

Frontispiece — Haleakala  Crater 

"Rugged  Lava  of  Wailuku  River" 7 

Leaping  to  Swim  to  Coral  Reefs 12 

Sea  of  Sacred  Caves 14 

Spearing  Fish 21 

Here  are  the  Canoes 29 

lao  Mountain  from  the  Sea 43 

Haleakala  53 

Hawaiian  Vines  and  Bushes 74 

Bathing  Pool 84 

Coconut  Grove 96 

Boiling  Pots — Wailuku  River 100 

Outside  were  other  Worlds 107 

Hilo  Coast — Home  of  the  Winds 115 

Bay  of  Waipio  Valley 121 

The  leie  Vine 125 

Rainbow  Falls 147 

Wailuku  River — The  Home  of  Kuna 151 

On  Lava  Beds 163 

iv 


HELPS  TO  PRONOUNCIATION 

There  are  three  simple  rules  which  practically  control 
Hawaiian  pronunciation :  ( 1 )  Give  each  vowel  the  Ger- 
man sound.  (2)  Pronounce  each  vowel.  (3)  Never 
allow  a  consonant  to  close  a  syllable. 

Interchangeable  consonants  are  many.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  most  common  :  h^^^^s ;  l=r ;  k=t ;  n==:ng ; 
v=w. 


PREFACE 

Maui  is  a  demi  god  whose  name  should  probably  be 
pronounced  Ma-u-i,  i.  e.,  Ma-oo-e.  The  meaning  of  the 
word  is  by  no  means  clear.  It  may  mean  "to  live,"  "to 
subsist."  It  may  refer  to  beauty  and  strength,  or  it  may 
have  the  idea  of  "the  left  hand"  or  "turning  aside."  The 
word  is  recognized  as  belonging  to  remote  Polynesian 
antiquity. 

MacDonald,  a  writer  of  the  New  Hebrides  Islands, 
gives  the  derivation  of  the  name  Maui  primarily  from 
the  Arabic  word  "Mohyi,"  which  means  "causing  to 
live"  or  "life,"  applied  sometimes  to  the  gods  and  some- 
times to  chiefs  as  "preservers  and  sustainers"  of  their 
followers. 

The  Maui  story  probably  contains  a  larger  number  of 
unique  and  ancient  myths  than  that  of  any  other  legend- 
ary character  in  the  mythology  of  any  nation. 

There  are  three  centers  for  these  legends.  New  Zea- 
land in  the  south,  Hawaii  in  the  north,  and  the  Tahitian 
group  including  the  Hervey  Islands  in  the  east.  In  each 
of  these  groups  of  islands,  separated  by  thousands  of 
miles,  there  are  the  same  legends,  told  in  almost  the  same 
way,  and  with  very  little  variation  in  names.  The  inter- 
mediate groups  of  islands  of  even  as  great  importance  as 
Tonga,  Fiji  or  Samoa,  possess  the  same  legends  in  more 
or  less  of  a  fragmentary  condition,  as  if  the  three  centers 
had  been  settled  first  when  the  Polynesians  were  driven 
away    from    the    Asiatic    coasts    by   their    enemies,    the 

vi 


Malays.  From  these  centers  voyagers  sailing  away  in 
search  of  adventures  would  carry  fragments  rather  than 
complete  legends.  This  is  exactly  what  has  been  done 
and  there  are  as  a  result  a  large  number  of  hints  of 
wonderful  deeds.  The  really  long  legends  as  told  about 
the  demi  god  Ma-u-i  and  his  mother  Hina  number  about 
twenty. 

It  is  remarkable  that  these  legends  have  kept  their 
individuality.  The  Polynesians  are  not  a  very  clannish 
people.  For  some  centuries  they  have  not  been  in  the 
habit  of  frequently  visiting  each  other.  They  have  had 
no  written  language,  and  picture  writing  of  any  kind  is 
exceedingly  rare  throughout  Polynesia  and  yet  in  physi- 
cal traits,  national  customs,  domestic  habits,  and  lan- 
guage, as  well  as  in  traditions  and  myths,  the  different 
inhabitants  of  the  islands  of  Polynesia  are  as  near  of  kin 
as  the  cousins  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

The  Maui  legends  form  one  of  the  strongest  links  in 
the  mythological  chain  of  evidence  which  binds  the  scat- 
tered inhabitants  of  the  Pacific  into  one  nation.  An  in- 
complete list  aids  in  making  clear  the  fact  that  groups 
of  islands  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  miles  apart 
have  been  peopled  centuries  past  by  the  same  organic 
race.  Either  complete  or  fragmentary  Maui  legends  are 
found  in  the  single  inlands  and  island  groups  of  Anei- 
tyum,  Bowditch  or  Fakaofa,  Efate,  Fiji,  Fotuna,  Gilbert, 
Hawaii,  Hervey,  Huahine,  Mangaia,  Manihiki.  Mar- 
quesas, Marshall,  Nauru,  New  Hebrides,  New  Zealand, 
Samoa,  Savage,  Tahiti  or  Society,  Tauna,  Tokelau  and 
Tonga. 

S.  Percy  Smith  of  New  Zealand  in  his  book  Hawaiki 
mentions  a  legend  according  to  which  Maui  made  a 
voyage  after  overcoming  a  sea  monster,  visiting  the  Ton- 

vii 


gas,  the  Tahitian  group,  Vai-i  or  Hawaii,  and  the  Pau- 
motu  Islands.  Then  Maui  went  on  to  U-peru,  which 
Mr.  Smith  says  ''may  be  Peru."  It  was  said  that  Maui 
named  some  of  the  islands  of  the  Hawaiian  group,  call- 
ing the  island  Maui  "Maui-ui  in  remembrance  of  his 
efforts  in  lifting  up  the  heavens,"  Hawaii  was  named 
Vai-i,  and  Lanai  was  called  Ngangai — as  if  Maui  had 
found  the  three  most  southerly  islands  of  the  group. 

The  Maui  legends  possess  remarkable  antiquity.  Of 
course,  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  definite  historical  date, 
but  there  can  scarcely  be  any  question  of  their  origin 
among  the  ancestors  of  the  Polynesians  before  they  scat- 
tered over  the  Pacific  ocean.  They  belong  to  the  pre- 
historic Polynesians.  The  New  Zealanders  claim  Maui 
as  an  ancestor  of  their  most  ancient  tribes  and  some- 
times class  him  among  the  most  ancient  of  their  gods, 
calling  him  "creator  of  land"  and  "creator  of  man." 
Tregear,  in  a  paper  before  the  New  Zealand  Institute, 
said  that  Maui  was  sometimes  thought  to  be  "the  sun 
himself,"  "the  solar  fire,"  "the  sun  god,"  while  his  mother 
Hina  was  called  "the  moon  goddess."  The  noted  green- 
stone god  of  the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand,  Potiki,  may  well 
be  considered  a  representation  of  Maui-Tiki-Tiki,  who 
was  sometimes  called  Maui-po-tiki. 

Whether  these  legends  came  to  the  people  in  their  so- 
journ in  India  before  they  migrated  to  the  Straits  of 
Sunda  is  not  certain ;  but  it  may  well  be  assumed  that 
these  stories  had  taken  firm  root  in  the  memories  of  the 
priests  who  transmitted  the  most  important  traditions 
from  generation  to  generation,  and  that  this  must  have 
been  done  before  they  were  driven  away  from  the  Asiatic 
coasts  by  the  Malays. 

Several  hints  of  Hindoo  connection  is   found  in  the 

viii 


Maui  legends.  The  Polynesians  not  only  ascribed  human 
attributes  to  all  animal  life  with  which  they  were  ac- 
quainted, but  also  carried  the  idea  of  an  alligator  or 
dragon  with  them,  wherever  they  went,  as  in  the  mo-o  of 
the  story  Tuna-roa. 

The  Polynesians  also  had  the  idea  of  a  double  soul 
inhabiting  the  body.  This  is  carried  out  in  the  ghost 
legends  more  fully  than  in  the  Maui  stories,  and  yet  "the 
spirit  separate  from  the  spirit  which  never  forsakes  man" 
according  to  Polynesian  ideas,  was  a  part  of  the  Maui 
birth  legends.  This  spirit,  which  can  be  separated  or 
charmed  away  from  the  body  by  incantations  was  called 
the  "hau."  When  Maui's  father  performed  the  religious 
ceremonies  over  him  which  would  protect  him  and 
cause  him-  to  be  successful,  he  forgot  a  part  of  his  in- 
cantation to  the  "hau,"  therefore  Maui  lost  his  pro- 
tection from  death  when  he  sought  immortality  for 
himself  and  all  mankind. 

How  much  these  things  aid  in  proving  a  Hindoo  or 
rather  Indian  origin  for  the  Polynesians  is  uncertain,  but 
at  least  they  are  of  interest  along  the  lines  of  race  origin. 

The  Maui  group  of  legends  is  preeminently  peculiar. 
They  are  not  only  different  from  the  myths  of  other  na- 
tions, but  they  are  unique  in  the  character  of  the  actions 
recorded.  Maui's  deeds  rank  in  a  higher  class  than  most 
of  the  mighty  efiforts  of  the  demi  gods  of  other  nations 
and  races,  and  are  usually  of  more  utility.  Hercules 
accomplished  nothing  to  compare  with  "lifting  the  sky," 


IX 


"snaring  the  sun,"  "fishing  for  islands,"  "finding  fire  in 
his  grandmother's  finger  nails,"  or  "learning  from  birds 
how  to  make  fire  by  rubbing  dry  sticks,"  or  "getting  a 
magic  bone"  from  the  jaw  of  an  ancestor  who  was  half 
dead,  that  is  dead  on  one  side  and  therefore  could  well 
afiford  to  let  the  bone  on  that  side  go  for  the  benefit  of  a 
descendant.  The  Maui  legends  are  full  of  helpful  imagi- 
nations, which  are  distinctly  Polynesian. 

The  phrase  "Maui  of  the  Malo"  is  used  among  the 
Hawaiians  in  connection  with  the  nam'C  Maui  a  Ka- 
lana,  "Maui  the  son  of  Akalana."  It  may  be  well  to 
note  the  origin  of  the  name.  It  was  said  that  Hina 
usually  sent  her  retainers  to  gather  sea  moss  for  her, 
but  one  morning  she  went  down  to  the  sea  by  her- 
self. There  she  found  a  beautiful  red  malo,  which  she 
wrapped  around  her  as  a  pa-u  or  skirt.  When  she 
showed  it  to  Akalana,  her  husband,  he  spoke  of  it  as 
a  gift  of  the  gods,  thinking  that  it  meant  the  gift  of 
Mana  or  spiritual  power  to  their  child  when  he  should 
be  born.  In  this  way  the  Hawaiians  explain  the  superior 
talent  and  miraculous  ability  of  Maui  which  placed  him 
above  his  brothers^. 

These  stories  were  originally  printed  as  magazine 
articles,  chiefly  in  the  Paradise  of  the  Pacific,  Hono- 
lulu; therefore  there  are  sometimes  repetitions  which 
it  seemed  best  to  leave,  even  when  reprinted  in  the 
present  form. 


MAUI'S   HOME 

"Akalana  was  the  man; 
Hina-a-ke-ahi    was    the    wife; 
Maui  First  was  born; 
Then  Maui-waena; 
Maui  Kiikii  was  born; 
Then  Maui  of  the  malo." 

—  Queen  Liliuokalani 's  Family  Chant. 

^I^OUR  BROTHERS,  each  bearing  the  nam-e  of 
^W  Maui,  belong  to  Hawaiian  legend.  They  ac- 
^^  complished  little  as  a  family,  except  on 
special  occasions  when  the  youngest  of  the  household 
awakened  his  brothers  by  some  unexpected  trick 
which  drew  them  into  unwonted  action.  The  legends 
of  Hawaii,  Tonga,  Tahiti,  New  Zealand  and  the  Her- 
vey  group  make  this  youngest  Maui  "the  discoverer 
of  fire"  or  "the  ensnarer  of  the  sun"  or  "the  fisherman 
who  pulls  up  islands"  or  "the  man  endowed  with 
magic,"   or  "Maui  with  spirit  power."     The  legends 


vary  somewhat,  of  course,  but  not  as  much  as  might 
be  expected  when  the  thousands  of  miles  between 
various  groups  of  islands  are  taken  into  consideration. 

Maui  was  one  of  the  Polynesian  demi-gods.  His 
parents  belonged  to  the  family  of  supernatural  beings. 
He  himself  was  possessed  of  supernatural  powers  and 
was  supposed  to  make  use  of  all  manner  of  enchant- 
ments. In  New  Zealand  antiquity  a  Maui  was  said  to 
have  assisted  other  gods  in  the  creation  of  man. 
Nevertheless  Maui  was  very  human.  He  lived  in 
thatched  houses,  had  wives  and  children,  and  was 
scolded  by  the  women  for  not  properly  supporting  his 
household. 

The  time  of  his  sojourn  among  men  is  very  indefi- 
nite. In  Hawaiian  genealogies  Maui  and  his  brothers 
were  placed  among  the  descendants  of  Ulu  and  "the 
sons  of  Kii,"  and  Maui  was  one  of  the  ancestors  of 
Kamehameha,  the  first  king  of  the  united  Hawaiian 
Islands.  This  would  place  him  in  the  seventh  or  eighth 
century  of  the  Christian  Era.  But  it  is  more  prob- 
able that  Maui  belongs  to  the  mist-land  of  time.  His 
mischievous  pranks  with  the  various  gods  would  make 
him  another  Mercury  living  in  any  age  from  the  cre- 
ation to  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 

The  Hervey  Island  legends  state  that  Maui's  father 
was  "the  supporter  of  the  heavens"  and  his  mother 
"the  guardian  of  the  road  to  the  invisible  world." 

In  the  Hawaiian  chant,  Akalana  was  the  name  of 


his  father.  In  other  groups  this  was  the  name  by 
which  his  mother  was  known.  Kanaloa,  the  god,  is 
sometimes  known  as  the  father  of  Maui.  In  Hawaii 
Hina  was  his  mother.  Elsewhere  Ina,  or  Hina,  was 
the  grandmother,  from  whom  he  secured  fire. 

The  Hervey  Island  legends  say  that  four  mighty 
ones  lived  in  the  old  world  from  which  their  ancestors 
came.  This  old  world  bore  the  name  Ava-iki,  which 
is  the  same  as  Hawa-ii,  or  Hawaii.  The  four  gods 
were  Mauike,  Ra,   Ru,  and   Bua-Taranga. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  connection  of  these  four 
names  with  Polynesian  mythology.  Mauike  is  the 
sam-e  as  the  demi-god  of  New  Zealand,  Mafuike.  On 
other  islands  the  name  is  spelled  Mauika,  Mafuika, 
Mafuia,  Mafuie,  and  Mahuika.  Ra,  the  sun  god  of 
Egypt,  is  the  same  as  Ra  in  New  Zealand  and  La 
(sun)  in  Hawaii.  Ru,  the  supporter  of  the  heavens, 
is  probably  the  Ku  of  Hawaii,  and  the  Tu  of  New 
Zealand  and  other  islands,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the 
gods  worshiped  by  the  ancient  Hawaiians.  The  fourth 
mighty  one  from  Ava-ika  was  a  woman,  Bua-taranga, 
who  guarded  the  path  to  the  underworld.  Talanga  in 
Samoa,  and  Akalana  in  Hawaii  were  the  same  as  Ta- 
ranga.  Pua-kalana  (the  Kalana  flower)  would  prob- 
ably be  the  same  in  Hawaiian  as  Bua-taranga  in  the 
language  of  the  Society  Islands. 

Ru,  the  supporter  of  the  Heavens,  married  Bua- 
taranga,  the  guardian  of  the  lower  world.     Their  one 


child  was  Maui.  The  legends  of  Raro-Tonga  state 
that  Maui's  father  and  mother  were  the  children  of 
Tangaroa  (Kanaloa  in  Hawaiian),  the  great  god  wor- 
shiped throughout  Polynesia.  There  were  three  Maui 
brothers  and  one  sister,  Ina-ika   (Ina,  the  fish). 

The  New  Zealand  legends  relate  the  incidents  of 
the  babyhood  of  Maui. 

Maui  was  prematurely  born,  and  his  mother,  not 
caring  to  be  troubled  with  him,  cut  ofif  a  lock  of  her 
hair,  tied  it  around  him  and  cast  him  into  the  sea.  In 
this  way  the  name  came  to  him,  Maui-Tiki-Tiki,  or 
"Maui  form^ed  in  the  topknot."  The  waters  bore  him 
safely.  The  jelly  fish  enwrapped  and  mothered  him. 
The  god  of  the  seas  cared  for  and  protected  him.  He 
was  carried  to  the  god's  house  and  hung  up  in  the 
roof  that  he  might  feel  the  warm  air  of  the  fire,  and 
be  cherished  into  life.  When  he  was  old  enough,  he 
came  to  his  relations  while  they  were  all  gathered  in 
the  great  House  of  Assembly,  dancing  and  making 
merry.  Little  Maui  crept  in  and  sat  down  behind  his 
brothers.  Soon  his  mother  called  the  children  and 
found  a  strange  child,  who  proved  that  he  was  her 
son,  and  was  taken  in  as  one  of  the  family.  Some  of 
the  brothers  were  jealous,  but  the  eldest  addressed 
the  others  as  follows : 

"Never  mind ;  let  him  be  our  dear  brother.  In  the 
days  of  peace  remember  the  proverb,  'When  you  are 
on  friendly  terms,  settle  your  disputes  in  a  friendly 


Rugged  Lava  of   Wailuku  River. 


way;  when  you  are  at  war,  you  must  redress  your  in- 
juries by  violence.'  It  is  better  for  us,  brothers,  to  be 
kind  to  other  people.  These  are  the  ways  by  which 
men  gain  influence — by  laboring  for  abundance  of 
food  to  feed  others,  by  collecting  property  to  give  to 
others,  and  by  similar  means  by  which  you  promote 
the  good  of  others." 

Thus,  according  to  the  New  Zealand  story  related 
by  Sir  George  Grey,  Maui  was  received  in  his  home. 

Maui's  home  was  placed  by  some  of  the  Hawaiian 
myths  at  Kauiki,  a  foothill  of  the  great  extinct  crater 
Haleakala,  on  the  Island  of  Maui.  It  was  here  he 
lived  when  the  sky  was  raised  to  its  present  position. 
Here  was  located  the  famous  fort  around  which  many 
battles  were  fought  during  the  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  coming  of  Captain  Cook.  This  fort  was  held 
by  warriors  of  the  Island  of  Hawaii  a  number  of  years. 
It  was  from  this  home  that  Maui  was  supposed  to 
have  journeyed  when  he  climbed  Mt.  Haleakala  to  en- 
snare the  sun. 

And  yet  most  of  the  Hawaiian  legends  place  Maui's 
home  by  the  rugged  black  lava  beds  of  the  Wailuku 
river  near  Hilo  on  the  island  Hawaii.  Here  he  lived 
when  he  found  the  way  to  make  fire  by  rubbing  sticks 
together,  and  when  he  killed  Kuna,  the  great  eel,  and 
performed  other  feats  of  valor.  He  was  supposed  to 
cultivate  the  land  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  His 
mother,  usually  known  as  Hina,  had  her  home  in  a 

7 


lava  cave  under  the  beautiful  Rainbow  Falls,  one  of 
the  fine  scenic  attractions  of  Hilo.  An  ancient  demii- 
god,  wishing  to  destroy  this  home,  threw  a  great  mass 
of  lava  across  the  stream  below  the  falls.  The  rising 
water  was  fast  filling  the  cave. 

Hina  called  loudly  to  her  powerful  son  Maui.  He 
came  quickly  and  found  that  a  large  and  strong  ridge 
of  lava  lay  across  the  stream.  One  end  rested  against 
a  small  hill.  Maui  struck  the  rock  on  the  other  side 
of  the  hill  and  thus  broke  a  new  pathway  for  the  river. 
The  water  swiftly  flowed  away  and  the  cave  remained 
as  the  home  of  the  Maui  family. 

According  to  the  King  Kalakaua  family  legend, 
translated  by  Queen  Liliuokalani,  Maui  and  his 
brothers  also  made  this  place  their  home.  Here  he 
aroused  the  anger  of  two  uncles,  his  mother's  brothers, 
who  were  called  "Tall  Post"  and  "Short  Post,"  be- 
cause they  guarded  the  entrance  to  a  cave  in  which 
the  Maui  family  probably  had  its  home. 

"They  fought  hard  with  Maui,  and  were  thrown, 
and  red  water  flowed  freely  from  Maui's  forehead. 
This  was  the  first  shower  by  Maui."  Perhaps  some 
family  discipline  followed  this  knocking  down  of  door 
posts,  for  it  is  said : 

"They  fetched  the  sacred  Awa  bush, 

Then  came  the  second  shower  by  Maui; 

The  third  shower  was  when  the  elbow  of  Awa  was  broken; 

The  fourth  shower  came  with  the  sacred  bamboo." 

8 


Maui's  mother,  so  says  a  New  Zealand  legend,  had 
her  honre  in  the  under-world  as  well  as  with  her  chil- 
dren. Maui  determined  to  find  the  hidden  dwelling 
place.  His  mother  would  meet  the  children  in  the 
evening  and  lie  down  to  sleep  with  them  and  then 
disappear  with  the  first  appearance  of  dawn.  Maui 
remained  awake  one  night,  and  when  all  were  asleep, 
arose  quietly  and  stopped  up  every  crevice  by  which 
a  ray  of  light  could  enter.  The  morning  came  and  the 
sun  mounted  up — far  up  in  the  sky.  At  last  his  mother 
leaped  up  and  tore  away  the  things  which  shut  out 
the  light. 

"Oh,  dear;  oh,  dear!  She  saw  the  sun  high  in  the 
heavens ;  so  she  hurried  away,  crying  at  the  thought 
of  having  been  so  badly  treated  by  her  own  children." 

Maui  watched  her  as  she  pulled  up  a  tuft  of  grass 
and  disappeared  in  the  earth,  pulling  the  grass  back 
to  its  place. 

Thus  Maui  found  the  path  to  the  under-world.  Soon 
he  transformed  himself  into  a  pigeon  and  flew  down, 
through  the  cave,  until  he  saw  a  party  of  people  under 
a  sacred  tree,  like  those  growing  in  the  ancient  first 
Hawaii.  He  flew  to  the  tree  and  threw  down  berries 
upon  the  people.  They  threw  back  stones.  At  last 
he  permitted  a  stone  from  his  father  to  strike  him, 
and  he  fell  to  the  ground.  "They  ran  to  catch  him, 
but  lo!  the  pigeon  had  turned  into  a  man." 

Then  his  father  "took  him  to  the  water  to  be  bap- 


tized"  (possibly  a  modern  addition  to  the  legend). 
Prayers  were  offered  and  ceremonies  passed  through. 
But  the  prayers  were  incomplete  and  Maui's  father 
knew  that  the  gods  would  be  angry  and  cause  Maui's 
death,  and  all  because  in  the  hurried  baptism  a  part 
of  the  prayers  had  been  left  unsaid.  Then  Maui  re- 
turned to  the  upper  world  and  lived  again  with  his 
brothers. 

Maui  commenced  his  mischievous  life  early,  for 
Hervey  Islanders  say  that  one  day  the  children  were 
playing  a  game  dearly  loved  by  Polynesians  —  hide- 
and-seek.  Here  a  sister  enters  into  the  game  and 
hides  little  Maui  under  a  pile  of  dry  sticks.  His 
brothers  could  not  find  him,  and  the  sister  told  them 
where  to  look.  The  sticks  were  carefully  handled,  but 
the  child  could  not  be  found.  He  had  shrunk  himself 
so  small  that  he  was  like  an  insect  under  some  sticks 
and  leaves.  Thus  early  he  began  to  use  enchant- 
ments. 

Maui's  home,  at  the  best,  was  only  a  sorry  affair. 
Gods  and  demigods  lived  in  caves  and  small  grass 
houses.  The  thatch  rapidly  rotted  and  required  con- 
tinual renewal.  In  a  very  short  time  the  heavy  rains 
beat  through  the  decaying  roof.  The  home  was  with- 
out windows  or  doors,  save  as  low  openings  in  the 
ends  or  sides  allowed  entrance  to  those  willing  to 
crawl  through.  Off  on  one  side  would  be  the  rude 
shelter,    in    the    shadow    of    which    Hina    pounded    the 

10 


bark  of  certain  trees  into  wood  pulp  and  then  into 
strips  of  thin,  soft  wood-paper,  which  bore  the  name 
of  "Tapa  cloth."  This  cloth  Hina  prepared  for  the 
clothing-  of  Maui  and  his  brothers.  Tapa  cloth  was 
often  treated  to  a  coat  of  cocoa-nut,  or  candle-nut  oil, 
making  it  somewhat  waterproof  and  also  more  dur- 
able. 

Here  Maui  lived  on  edible  roots  and  fruits  and  raw 
fish,  knowing  little  about  cooked  food,  for  the  art  of 
fire  making  was  not  yet  known.  In  later  years  Maui 
was  supposed  to  live  on  the  eastern  end  of  the  island 
Maui,  and  also  in  another  home  on  the  large  island 
Hawaii,  on  which  he  discovered  how  to  make  fire 
by  rubbing  dry  sticks  together.  Maui  was  the  Poly- 
nesian Mercury.  As  a  little  fellow  he  was  endowed 
with  peculiar  powers,  permitting  him  to  become  in- 
visible or  to  change  his  human  form  into  that  of  an 
animal.  He  was  ready  to  take  anything  from  any  one 
by  craft  or  force.  Nevertheless,  like  the  thefts  of 
Mercury,  his  pranks  usually  benefited  mankind. 

It  is  a  little  curious  that  around  the  different  homes 
of  Maui,  there  is  so  little  record  of  temples  and  priests 
and  altars.  He  lived  too  far  back  for  priestly  customs. 
His  story  is  the  rude,  mythical  survival  of  the  days 
when  of  church  and  civil  government  there  was  none 
and  worship  of  the  gods  was  practically  unknown, 
but  every  man  was  a  law  unto  himself,  and  also  to 
the  other  man,  and  quick  retaliation  followed  any  in- 
jury received. 

11 


'  II. 


MAUI   THE   FISHERMAN 

"Oil  the  great  fish  hook  of  Maui  ! 

Manai-i-ka-lani     ''Made  fast  to  the  heavens'  — 

its  name; 
An  earth-twisted  cord  ties  the  hook. 
Engulfed  from  the  lofty  Kauiki. 
Its  bait  the  red  billed  Alae, 
The  bird  made  sacred  to  Hina. 
It  sinks  far  down  to  Hawaii, 
Struggling  and  painfully  dying. 
Caught   is   the   land   under   the   water, 
Floated  up,  up  to  the  surface, 
But  Hina  hid  a  wing  of  the  bird 
And  broke  the  land  under  the  water. 
Below,  was  the  bait  snatched  away 
And  eaten  at  once  by  the  fishes, 
The  Ulua  of  the  deep  muddy  places." 

— <:;hant  of  Kualii,  about  A.  D.  1700. 

/^H^NE  of  Maui's  homes  was  near  Kauiki,  a  place 
I  I  J  well  known  throughout  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
^-^  because  of  its  strategic  importance.  For  many 
years  it  was  the  site  of  a  fort  around  which  fierce  bat- 

12 


Leaping  to  Swim  to  Coral  Reefs. 


ties  were  fought  by  the  natives  of  the  island  Maui, 
repelling  the  invasions  of  their  neighbors  from  Ha- 
waii. 

Haleakala  (the  House  of  the  Sun),  the  mountain 
from  which  Maui  the  demi-god  snared  the  sun,  looks 
down  ten  thousand  feet  upon  the  Kauiki  headland. 
Across  the  channel  from  Haleakala  rises  Mauna  Kea, 
"The  White  Mountain" — the  snow-capped — which 
almost  all  the  year  round  rears  its  white  head  in 
majesty  among  the  clouds. 

In  the  snowy  breakers  of  the  surf  which  washes  the 
beach  below  these  mountains,  are  broken  coral  reefs 
— the  fishing  grounds  of  the  Hawaiians.  Here  near 
Kauiki,  according  to  some  Hawaiian  legends,  Maui's 
mother  Hina  had  her  grass  house  and  made  and  dried 
her  kapa  cloth.  Even  to  the  present  day  it  is  one  of 
the  few  places  in  the  islands  where  the  kapa  is  still 
pounded  into  sheets  from  the  bark  of  the  hibiscus  and 
kindred  trees. 

Here  is  a  small  bay  partially  reef-protected,  over 
which  year  after  year  the  moist  clouds  float  and  by 
day  and  by  night  crown  the  waters  with  rainbows — 
the  legendary  sign  of  the  home  of  the  deified  ones. 
Here  when  the  tide  is  out  the  natives  wade  and  swim, 
as  they  have  done  for  centuries,  from  coral  block  to 
coral  block,  shunning  the  deep  resting  places  of  their 
dread  enemy,  the  shark,  sometim^es  esteemed  divine. 
Out  on  the  edge  of  the  outermost  reef  they  seek  the 

13 


shellfish  which  cling  to  the  coral,  or  spear  the  large 
fish  which  have  been  left  in  the  beautiful  little  lakes 
of  the  reef.  Coral  land  is  a  region  of  the  sea  coast 
abounding  in  miniature  lakes  and  rugged  valleys  and 
steep  mountains.  Clear  waters  with  every  motion  of 
the  tide  surge  in  and  out  through  sheltered  caves  and 
submarine  tunnels,  according  to  an  ancient  Hawaiian 


song- 


"  Never  quiet,  never  failing,  never  sleeping, 
Never  very  noisy  is  the  sea  of  the  sacred  caves." 

Sea  mosses  of  many  hues  are  the  forests  which 
drape  the  hillsides  of  coral  land  and  reflect  the  colored 
rays  of  light  which  pierce  the  ceaselessly  moving 
waves.  Down  in  the  beautiful  little  lakes,  under  over- 
hanging coral  clififs,  darting  in  and  out  through  the 
fringes  of  seaweed,  the  purple  mullet  and  royal  red 
fish  flash  before  the  eyes  of  the  fisherman.  Sometimes 
the  many-tinted  glorious  fish  of  paradise  reveal  their 
beauties,  and  then  again  a  school  of  black  and  gold 
citizens  of  the  reef  follow  the  tidal  waves  around 
projecting  crags  and  through  the  hidden  tunnels 
from  lake  to  lake,  while  above  the  fisherman  follows 
spearing  or  snaring  as  best  he  can.  Maui's  brothers 
were  better  fishermen  than  he.  They  sought  the  deep 
sea  beyond  the  reef  and  the  larger  fish.  They  made 
hooks  of  bone  or  of  mother  of  pearl,  with  a  straight, 
slender,   sharp-pointed   piece   leaning  backward   at   a 

14 


In  the  Sea  of  Sacred  Caves. 


sharp  angle.  This  was  usually  a  consecrated  bit  of 
bone  or  mother  of  pearl,  and  was  supposed  to  have 
peculiar  power  to  hold  fast  any  fish  which  had  taken 
the  bait. 

These  bones  were  usually  taken  from  the  body  of 
some  one  who  while  living  had  been  noted  for  great 
power  or  high  rank.  This  sharp  piece  was  tightly 
tied  to  the  larger  bone  or  shell,  which  formed  the 
shank  of  the  hook.  The  sacred  barb  of  Maui's  hook 
was  a  part  of  the  magic  bone  he  had  secured  from  his 
ancestors  in  the  under-world — the  bone  with  which 
he  struck  the  sun  while  lassooing  him  and  compelling 
him  to  move  more  slowly  through  the  heavens. 

"Earth-twisted" — fibres  of  vines — twisted  while 
growing,  was  the  cord  used  by  Maui  in  tying  the 
parts  of  his  magic  hook  together. 

Long  and  strong  were  the  fish  lines  made  from  the 
olona  fibre,  holding  the  great  fish  caught  from  the 
depths  of  the  ocean.  The  fibres  of  the  olona  vine  were 
among  the  longest  and  strongest  threads  found  in  the 
Hawaiian  Islands. 

Such  a  hook  could  easily  be  cast  loose  by  the  strug- 
gling fish,  if  the  least  opportunity  were  given.  There- 
fore it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  keep  the  line  taut, 
and  pull  strongly  and  steadily,  to  land  the  fish  in  the 
canoe. 

Maui  did  not  use  his  magic  hook  for  a  long  time. 
He  seemed  to  understand  that  it  would  not  answer 

15 


ordinary  needs.  Possibly  the  idea  of  making  the 
supernatural  hook  did  not  occur  to  him  until  he  had 
exhausted  his  lower  wit  and  magic  upon  his  brothers. 

It  is  said  that  Maui  was  not  a  very  good  fisherman. 
Sometimes  his  end  of  the  canoe  contained  fish  which 
his  brothers  had  thought  were  on  their  hooks  until 
they  were  landed  in  the  canoe. 

Many  times  they  laughed  at  him  for  his  poor  suc- 
cess, and  he  retaliated  with  his  mischievous  tricks. 

"E!"  he  would  cry,  when  one  of  his  brothers  began 
to  pull  in,  while  the  other  brothers  swiftly  paddled 
the  canoe  forward.  "E !"  See  we  both  have  caught 
great  fish  at  the  same  moment.  Be  careful  now.  Your 
line  is  loose.     Look  out !     Look  out !" 

All  the  time  he  would  be  pulling  his  own  line  in  as 
rapidly  as  possible.  Onward  rushed  the  canoe.  Each 
fisherman  shouting  to  encourage  the  others.  Soon  the 
lines  by  the  tricky  manipulation  of  Maui  would  be 
crossed.  Then  as  the  great  fish  was  brought  near  the 
side  of  the  boat  Maui  the  little,  the  mischievous  one, 
would  slip  his  hook  toward  the  head  of  the  fish  and 
flip  it  over  into  the  canoe — causing  his  brother's  line 
to  slacken  for  a  moment.  Then  his  mournful  cry 
rang  out:  "Oh,  my  brother,  your  fish  is  gone.  Why 
did  you  not  pull  more,  steadily?  It  was  a  fine  fish, 
and  now  it  is  down  deep  in  the  waters."  Then  Maui 
held  up  his  splendid  catch  (from  his  brother's  hook) 
and    received    somewhat    suspicious    congratulations. 

16 


But  what  could  they  do,  Maui  was  the  smart  one  of 
the  family. 

Their  father  and  mother  were  both  members  of  the 
household  of  the  gods.  The  father  was  "the  sup- 
porter of  the  heavens"  and  the  mother  was  "the 
guardian  of  the  way  to  the  invisible  world,"  but  piti- 
fully small  and  very  few  were  the  gifts  bestowed  upon 
their  children.  Maui's  brothers  knew  nothing  beyond 
the  average  home  life  of  the  ordinary  Hawaiian,  and 
Maui  alone  was  endowed  with  the  power  to  work 
miracles.  Nevertheless  the  student  of  Polynesian 
legends  learns  that  Maui  is  more  widely  known  than 
almost  all  the  demi-gods  of  all  nations  as  a  discoverer 
of  benefits  for  his  fellows,  and  these  physical  rather 
than  spiritual.  After  many  fishing  excursions  Maui's 
brothers  seemed  to  have  wit  enough  to  understand 
his  tricks,  and  thenceforth  they  refused  to  take  him 
in  their  canoe  when  they  paddled  out  to  the  deep-sea 
iishing  grounds.  Then  those  who  depended  upon 
Maui  to  supply  their  daily  needs  murmured  against 
liis  poor  success.  His  mother  scolded  him  and  his 
brothers  ridiculed  him. 

In  some  of  the  Polynesian  legends  it  is  said  that  his 
wives  and  children  complained  because  of  his  laziness 
and  at  last  goaded  him  into  a  new  effort. 

The  ex-Queen  Liliuokalani,  in  a  translation  of  what 
is  called  "the  family  chant,"  says  that  Maui's  mother 
sent  him  to  his  father  for  a  hook  with  which  to  sup- 
ply her  need. 

17 


"Go  hence  to  your  father, 

'Tis  there  you  find  line  and  hook. 

This  is  the  hook — 'Made  fast  to  the  heavens — ' 

'Manaia-ka-lani' — 'tis   called. 

When  the  hook   catches  land 

It  brings  the  old  seas  together. 

Bring  hither  the  large  Alae, 

The  bird  of  Hina." 

When  Maui  had  obtained  his  hook,  he  tried  to  go 
fishing  with  his  brothers.  He  leaped  on  the  end  of 
their  canoe  as  they  pushed  out  into  deep  water.  They 
were  angry  and  cried  out :  "This  boat  is  too  small  for 
another  Maui."  So  they  threw  him  off  and  made  him 
swim  back  to  the  beach.  When  they  returned  from 
their  day's  work,  they  brought  back  only  a  shark, 
Maui  told  themi  if  he  had  been  with  them  better  fish 
would  have  been  upon  their  hooks — the  Ulua,  for  in- 
stance, or,  possibly,  the  Pimoe — the  king  of  fish.  At 
last  they  let  him  go  far  out  outside  the  harbor  of 
Kipahula  to  a  place  opposite  Ka  Iwi  o  Pele,  "The 
bone  of  Pele,"  a  peculiar  piece  of  lava  lying  near  the 
beach  at  Hana  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  island  Maui. 
There  they  fished,  but  only  sharks  were  caught.  The 
brothers  ridiculed  Maui,  saying:  "Where  are  the 
Ulua,  and  where  is  Pimoe?" 

Then  Maui  threw  his  magic  hook  into  the  sea,  baited 
with  one  of  the  Alae  birds,  sacred  to  his  mother  Hina. 
He  used  the  incantation,  "When  I  let  go  my  hook 
with  divine  power,  then  I  get  the  great  Ulua." 

18 


The  bottom  of  the  sea  began  to  move.  Great  waves 
arose,  trying  to  carry  the  canoe  away.  The  fish 
pulled  the  canoe  two  days,  drawing  the  line  to  its 
fullest  extent.  When  the  slack  began  to  come  in  the 
line,  because  of  the  tired  fish,  Maui  called  for  the 
brothers  to  pull  hard  against  the  coming  fish.  Soon 
land  rose  out  of  the  water.  Maui  told  them  not  to  look 
back  or  the  fish  would  be  lost.  One  brother  did  look 
back — the  line  slacked,  snapped,  and  broke,  and  the 
land  lay  behind  them  in  islands. 

One  of  the  Hawaiian  legends  also  says  that  while 
the  brothers  were  paddling  in  full  strength,  Maui  saw 
a  calabash  floating  in  the  water.  He  lifted  it  into  the 
canoe,  and  behold!  his  beautiful  sister  Hina  of  the 
sea.  The  brothers  looked,  and  the  separated  islands 
lay  behind  them,  free  from  the  hook,  while  Cocoanut 
Island — the  dainty  spot  of  beauty  in  Hilo  harbor — 
was  drawn  up — a  little  ledge  of  lava — in  later  years 
the  home  of  a  cocoanut  grove. 

The  better,  the  more  complete,  legend  comes  from 
New  Zealand,  which  makes  Maui  so  mischievous  that 
his  brothers  refuse  his  companionship — and  therefore, 
thrown  on  his  own  resources,  he  studies  how  to  make 
a  hook  which  shall  catch  something  worth  while.  In 
this  legend  Maui  is  represented  as  making  his  own 
hook  and  then  pleading  with  his  brothers  to  let  him 
go  with  them  once  more.  But  they  hardened  their 
hearts  against  him,  and  refused  again  and  again. 

19 


Maui  possessed  the  power  of  changing  himself  into 
different  forms.  At  one  time  while  playing  with  his 
brothers  he  had  concealed  himself  for  them  to  find. 
They  heard  his  voice  in  a  corner  of  the  house — but 
could  not  find  him.  Then  under  the  mats  on  the  floor, 
but  again  they  could  not  find  him.  There  was  only  an 
insect  creeping  on  the  floor.  Suddenly  they  saw  their 
little  brother  where  the  insect  had  been.  Then  they 
knew  he  had  been  tricky  with  them.  So  in  these 
fishing  days  he  resolved  to  go  back  to  his  old  ways 
and  cheat  his  brothers  into  carrying  him  with  them 
to  the  great  fishing  grounds. 

Sir  George  Gray  says  that  the  New  Zealand  Maui 
went  out  to  the  canoe  and  concealed  himself  as  an 
insect  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat  so  that  when  the 
early  morning  light  crept  over  the  waters  and  his 
brothers  pushed  the  canoe  into  the  surf  they  could 
not  see  him.  They  rejoiced  that  Maui  did  not  appear, 
and  paddled  away  over  the  waters. 

They  fished  all  day  and  all  night  and  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  next  day,  out  from  among  the  fish  in  the 
bottom  of  the  boat  came  their  troublesome  brother. 

They  had  caught  many  fine  fish  and  were  satisfied, 
so  thought  to  paddle  homeward ;  but  their  younger 
brother  plead  with  them  to  go  out,  far  out,  to  the 
deeper  seas  and  permit  him  to  cast  his  hook.  He  said 
he  wanted  larger  and  better  fish  than  any  they  had 
captured. 

20 


Spearing  Fish. 


So  they  paddled  to  their  outermost  fishing  grounds 
— but  this  did  not  satisfy  Maui — 

"Farther  out   on  the  waters, 

O!   my  brothers, 

I  seek  the  great  fish  of  the   sea." 


It  was  evidently  easier  to  work  for  him  than  to 
argue  with  him — therefore  far  out  in  the  sea  they 
went.  The  home  land  disappeared  from  view;  they 
could  see  only  the  outstretching  waste  of  waters. 
Maui  urged  them  out  still  farther.  Then  he  drew  his 
magic  hook  from  under  his  malo  or  loin-cloth.  The 
brothers  wondered  what  he  would  do  for  bait.  The 
New  Zealand  legend  says  that  he  struck  his  nose  a 
mighty  blow  until  the  blood  gushed  forth.  When  this 
blood  becam-e  clotted,  he  fastened  it  upon  his  hook 
and  let  it  down  into  the  deep  sea. 

Down  it  went  to  the  very  bottom  and  caught  the 
under  world.  It  was  a  mighty  fish — but  the  brothers 
paddled  with  all  their  might  and  main  and  Maui 
pulled  in  the  line.  It  was  hard  rowing  against  the 
power  which  held  the  hook  down  in  the  sea  depths — 
but  the  brothers  became  enthusiastic  over  Maui's 
large  fish,  and  were  generous  in  their  strenuous  en- 
deavors. Every  muscle  was  strained  and  every  pad- 
dle held  strongly  against  the  sea  that  not  an  inch 
should  be  lost.  There  was  no  sudden  leaping  and 
darting  to  and  fro,  no  "give"  to  the  line ;  no  "tremble" 

21 


as  when  a  great  fish  would  shake  itself  in  impotent 
wrath  when  held  captive  by  a  hook.  It  was  simply  a 
struggle  of  tense  muscle  against  an  immensely  heavy 
dead  weight.  To  the  brothers  there  came  slowly  the 
feeling  that  Maui  was  in  one  of  his  strange  moods 
and  that  something  beyond  their  former  experiences 
with  their  tricky  brother  was  coming  to  pass. 

At  last  one  of  the  brothers  glanced  backward.  With 
a  scream  of  intense  terror  he  dropped  his  paddle. 
The  others  also  looked.  Then  each  caught  his  paddle 
and  with  frantic  exertion  tried  to  force  their  canoe 
onward.  Deep  down  in  the  heavy  waters  they  pushed 
their  paddles.  Out  of  the  great  seas  the  black,  ragged 
head  of  a  large  island  was  rising  like  a  fish — it  seemed 
to  be  chasing  themi  through  the  boiling  surf.  In  a 
little  while  the  water  became  shallow  around  them, 
and  their  canoe  finally  rested  on  a  black  beach. 

Maui  for  some  reason  left  his  brothers,  charging 
them  not  to  attempt  to  cut  up  this  great  fish.  But 
the  unwise  brothers  thought  they  would  fill  the  canoe 
with  part  of  this  strange  thing  which  they  had  caught. 
They  began  to  cut  up  the  back  and  put  huge  slices 
into  their  canoe.  But  the  great  fish — the  island — 
shook  under  the  blows  and  with  mighty  earthquake 
shocks  tossed  the  boat  of  the  brothers,  and  their 
canoe  was  destroyed.  As  they  were  struggling  in  the 
waters,  the  great  fish  devoured  them.  The  island 
came  up   more  and  more  from   the  waters — but  the 

22 


deep  gashes  made  by  Maui's  brothers  did  not  heal — 
they  became  the  mountains  and  valleys  stretching 
from  sea  to  sea. 

White  of  New  Zealand  says  that  Maui  went  down 
into  the  underworld  to  meet  his  great  ancestress,  who 
was  one  side  dead  and  one  side  alive.  From  the  dead 
side  he  took  the  jaw  bone,  made  a  magic  hook,  and 
went  fishing.  When  he  let  the  hook  down  into  the 
sea,  he  called: 

"Take  my  bait.     O  Depths! 
Confused  you   are.      O   Depths! 
And  coming  upward." 

Thus  he  pulled  up  Ao-tea-roa — one  of  the  large 
islands  of  New  Zealand.  On  it  were  houses,  with 
people  around  themi.  Fires  were  burning.  Maui 
walked  over  the  island,  saw  with  wonder  the  strange 
men  and  the  mysterious  fire.  He  took  fire  in  his  hands 
and  was  burned.  He  leaped  into  the  sea,  dived  deep, 
came  up  with  the  other  large  island  on  his  shoulders. 
This  island  he  set  on  fire  and  left  it  always  burning. 
It  is  said  that  the  name  for  New  Zealand  given  to  Cap- 
tain Cook  was  Te  ika  o  Maui,  "The  fish  of  Maui." 
Some  New  Zealand  natives  say  that  he  fished  up  the 
island  on  which  dwelt  "Great  Hina  of  the  Night,"  who 
finally  destroyed  Maui  while  he  was  seeking  immor- 
tality. 

One  legend   says   that   Maui   fished   up   apparently 

23 


from  New  Zealand  the  large  island  of  the  Tongas.   He 
used  this  chant: 

"O   Tonga-nui! 
Why  art  Thou 
,  Sulkily  biting,  biting  below? 

Beneath  the  earth 
The  power  is  felt, 
The  foam  is   seen. 

Coming. 
O  thou  loved  grandchild 
Of    Tangaroa-meha." 

This  is  an  excellent  poetical  description  of  the  great 
fish  delaying  the  quick  hard  bite.  Then  the  island 
comes  to  the  surface  and  Maui,  the  beloved  grandchild 
of  the  Polynesian  god  Kanaloa,  is  praised. 

It  was  part  of  one  of  the  legends  that  Maui  changed 
himself  into  a  bird  and  from  the  heavens  let  down  a 
line  with  which  he  drew  up  land,  but  the  line  broke, 
leaving  islands  rather  than  a  mainland.  About  two 
hundred  lesser  gods  went  to  the  new  islands  in  a  large 
canoe.  The  greater  gods  punished  them  by  making 
them  mortal. 

Turner,  in  his  book  on  Samoa,  says  there  were  three 
Mauis,  all  brothers.  They  went  out  fishing  from 
Rarotonga.  One  of  the  brothers  begged  the  "goddess 
of  the  deep  rocks"  to  let  his  hooks  catch  land.  Then 
the  island  Manahiki  was  drawn  up.  A  great  wave 
washed   two  of  the   Mauis   away.     The   other   Maui 

24 


found  a  great  house  in  which  eight  hundred  gods 
lived.  Here  he  made  his  home  until  a  chief  from 
Rarotonga  drove  him  away.  He  fled  into  the  sky, 
but  as  he  leaped  he  separated  the  land  into  two 
islands. 

Other  legends  of  Samoa  say  that  Tangaroa,  the 
srreat  sfod,  rolled  stones  from  heaven.  One  became  the 
island  Savaii,  the  other  became  Upolu.  A  god  is 
sometimes  represented  as  passing  over  the  ocean  with 
a  bag  of  sand.  Wherever  he  dropped  a  little  sand 
islands  sprang  up. 

Payton,  the  earnest  and  honored  missionary  of  the 
New  Hebrides  Islands,  evidently  did  not  know  the 
name  Mauitikitiki,  so  he  spells  the  name  of  the  fisher- 
man Ma-tshi-ktshi-ki,  and  gives  the  myth  of  the  fish- 
ing up  of  the  various  islands.  The  natives  said  that 
Maui  left  footprints  on  the  coral  reefs  of  each  island 
where  he  stood  straining  and  lifting  in  his  endeavors 
to  pull  up  each  other  island.  He  threw  his  line  around 
a  large  island  intending  to  draw  it  up  and  unite  it 
with  the  one  on  which  he  stood,  but  his  line  broke. 
Then  he  became  angry  and  divided  into  two  parts 
the  island  on  which  he  stood.  This  same  Maui  is  re- 
corded by  Mr.  Payton  as  being  in  a  flood  which  put 
out  one  volcano — Maui  seized  another,  sailed  across 
to  a  neighboring  island  and  piled  it  upon  the  top  of 
the  volcano  there,  so  the  fire  was  placed  out  of  reach 
of  the  flood. 

25 


In  the  Hervey  Group  of  the  Tahitian  or  Society- 
Islands  the  same  story  prevails  and  the  natives  point 
out  the  place  where  the  hook  caught  and  a  print  was 
made  by  the  foot  in  the  coral  reef.  But  they  add  somiC 
very  mythical  details.  Maui's  magic  fish  hook  is 
thrown  into  the  skies,  where  it  continuously  hangs, 
the  curved  tail  of  the  constellation  which  we  call 
Scorpio.  Then  one  of  the  gods  becoming  angry  with 
Maui  seized  him  and  threw  him  also  among  the  stars. 
There  he  stays  looking  down  upon  his  people.  He 
has  become  a  fixed  part  of  the  scorpion  itself. 

The  Hawaiian  myths  sometimes  represent  Maui  as 
trying  to  draw  the  islands  together  while  fishing  them 
*f  out  of  the  sea.     When  they  had  pulled  up  the  island 

of  Kauai  they  looked  back  and  were  frightened.  They 
evidently  tried  to  rush  away  from  the  new  monster 
and  thus  broke  the  line.  Maui  tore  a  side  out  of  the 
small  crater  Kaula  when  trying  to  draw  it  to  one  of 
the  other  islands.  Three  aumakuas,  three  fishes  sup- 
posed to  be  spirit-gods,  guarded  Kaula  and  defeated 
his  purpose.  At  Hawaii  Cocoanut  Island  broke  ofif 
because  Maui  pulled  too  hard.  Another  place  near 
Hilo  on  the  large  island  of  Hawaii  where  the  hook 
was  said  to  have  caught  is  in  the  Wailuku  river  below 
Rainbow  Falls. 

Maui  went  out  from  his  home  at  Kauiki,  fishing 
with  his  brothers.  After  they  had  caught  some  fine 
fish  the  brothers  desired  to  return,  but  Maui  persuaded 

26 


them-  to  go  out  farther.  Then  when  they  became  tired 
and  determined  to  go  back,  he  made  the  seas  stretch 
out  and  the  shores  recede  until  they  could  see  no  land. 
Then  drawing  the  magic  hook,  he  baited  it  with  the 
Alae  or  sacred  mud  hen  belonging  to  his  Mother  Hina. 
Queen  Liliuokalani's  family  chant  has  the  following 
reference  to  this  myth: 

"Maui  longed  for  fish  for  Hina-akeaM   (Hina  of  the  fire,  his 

mother), 
Go  hence  to  your  father, 
There   you  will  find  line   and  hook. 
Manaiakalani  is  the  hook. 
Where  the  islands  are  caught. 
The  ancient  seas  are  connected. 
The  great  bird  Alae  is  taken, 
The  sister  bird, 
Of  that  one  of  the  hidden  fire  of  Maui." 

Maui  evidently  had  no  scruples  against  using  any- 
thing which  would  help  him  carry  out  his  schemes. 
He  indiscriminately  robbed  his  friends  and  the  gods 
alike. 

Down  in  the  deep  sea  sank  the  hook  with  its  strug- 
gling bait,  until  it  was  seized  by  "the  land  under  the 
water." 

But  Hina  the  mother  saw  the  struggle  of  her  sacred 
bird  and  hastened  to  the  rescue.  She  caught  a  wing 
of  the  bird,  but  could  not  pull  the  Alae  from  the 
sacred  hook.     The  wing  was  torn  off.    Then  the  fish 

27 


gathered  around  the  bait  and  tore  it  in  pieces.  If  the 
bait  could  have  been  kept  entire,  then  the  land  would 
have  come  up  in  a  continent  rather  than  as  an  island. 
Then  the  Hawaiian  group  would  have  been  unbroken. 
But  the  bait  broke — and  the  islands  came  as  frag- 
ments from  the  under  world. 

Maui's  hook  and  canoe  are  frequently  mentioned  in 
the  legends.  The  Hawaiians  have  a  long  rock  in 
the  Wailuku  river  at  Hilo  which  they  call  Maui's 
canoe.  Different  names  were  given  to  Maui's  canoe 
by  the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand.  "Vine  of  Heaven," 
"Prepare  for  the  North,"  "Land  of  the  Receding  Sea." 
His  fish  hook  bore  the  name  "Plume  of  Beauty." 

On  the  southern  end  of  Hawke's  Bay,  New  Zealand, 
there  is  a  curved  ledge  of  rocks  extending  out  fromi 
the  coast.  This  is  still  called  by  the  Maoris  "Maui's 
fish-hook,"  as  if  the  magic  hook  had  been  so  firmly 
caught  in  the  jaws  of  the  island  that  Maui  could  not 
disentangle  it,  but  had  been  compelled  to  cut  it  ofif 
from  his  line. 

There  is  a  large  stone  on  the  sea  coast  of  North 
Kohala  on  the  island  of  Hawaii  which  the  Hawaiians 
point  out  as  the  place  where  Maui's  magic  hook 
caught  the  island  and  pulled  it  through  the  sea. 

In  the  Tonga  Islands,  a  place  known  as  Hounga  is 
pointed  out  by  the  natives  as  the  spot  where  the 
magic  hook  caught  in  the  rocks.    The  hook  itself  was 

28 


Here  are  the   Canoes. 


said  to  have  been  in  the  possession  of  a  chief-family 
for  many  generations. 

Another  group  of  Hawaiian  legends,  very  incom- 
plete, probably  referring  to  Maui,  but  ascribed  to 
other  names,  relates  that  a  fisherman  caught  a  large 
block  of  coral.  He  took  it  to  his  priest.  After  sacri- 
ficing, and  consulting  the  gods,  the  priest  advised  the 
fisherman  to  throw  the  coral  back  into  the  sea  with 
incantations.  While  so  doing  this  block  became  Ha- 
waii-loa.  The  fishing  continued  and  blocks  of  coral 
were  caught  and  thrown  back  into  the  sea  until  all  the 
islands  appeared.  Hints  of  this  legend  cling  to  other 
island  groups  as  well  as  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 
Fornander  credits  a  fisherman  from  foreign  lands  as 
thus  bringing  forth  the  Hawaiian  Islands  from  the 
deep  seas.  The  reference  occurs  in  part  of  a  chant 
known  as  that  of  a  friend  of  Paao — the  priest  who  is 
supposed  to  have  come  fronn  Samoa  to  Hawaii  in  the 
eleventh  century.  This  priest  calls  for  his  com- 
panions: 

"Here  are  the  canoes.     Get  aboard. 

Come  along,  and  dwell  on  Hawaii  with  the  green  back. 

A  land  which  was  found  in  the  ocean, 

A  land  thrown  up   from  the  sea — 

From   the  very  depths   of  Kanaloa, 

The   white  coral,  in  the  watery   caves, 

That  was  caught  on  the  hook  of  the  fisherman." 

The  god  Kanaloa  is  sometimes  known  as  a  ruler  of 
the  under-world,  whose  land  was  caught  by  Maui's 

29 


hook  and  brought  up  in  islands.  Thus  in  the  legends 
the  thought  has  been  perpetuated  that  some  one  of 
the  ancestors  of  the  Polynesians  made  voyages  and 
discovered  islands. 

In  the  time  of  Umi,  King  of  Hawaii,  there  is  the 
following  record  of  an  immense  bone  fish-hook,  which 
was  called  the  "fish-hook  of  Maui :" 

"In  the  night  of  Muku  (the  last  night  of  the  month), 
a  priest  and  his  servants  took  a  man,  killed  him,  and 
fastened  his  body  to  the  hook,  which  bore  the  name 
Manai-a-ka-lani,  and  dragged  it  to  the  heiau  (temple) 
as  a  'fish,'  and  placed  it  on  the  altar." 

This  hook  was  kept  until  the  time  of  Kamehamcha 
I.  From  time  to  time  he  tried  to  break  it,  and  pulled 
until  he  perspired. 

Peapea,  a  brother  of  Kaahumanu,  took  the  hook 
and  broke  it.  He  was  afraid  that  Kamehameha  would 
kill  him.  Kaahumanu,  however,  soothed  the  King, 
and  he  passed  the  matter  over.  The  broken  bone  was 
probably  thrown  away. 


30 


III. 

MAUI   LIFTING  THE  SKY. 

'AUI'S  home  was  for  a  long  time  enveloped  by 
darkness.  The  heavens  had  fallen  down,  or, 
rather,  had  not  been  separated  from  the  earth. 
According  to  some  legends,  the  skies  pressed  so  closely 
and  so  heavily  upon  the  earth  that  when  the  plants 
began  to  grow,  all  the  leaves  were  necessarily  fiat. 
According  to  other  legends,  the  plants  had  to  push  up 
the  clouds  a  little,  and  thus  caused  the  leaves  to 
flatten  out  into  larger  surface,  so  that  they  could  bet- 
ter drive  the  skies  back  and  hold  them  in  place.  Thus 
the  leaves  became  flat  at  first,  and  have  so  remained 
through  all  the  days  of  mankind.  The  plants  lifted  the 
sky  inch  by  inch  until  men  were  able  to  crawl  about 
between  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  thus  pass 
from  place  to  place  and  visit  one  another. 

After  a  long  time,  according  to  the  Hawaiian 
legends,  a  man,  supposed  to  be  Maui,  came  to  a  woman 
and  said:     "Give  me  a  drink  from  your  gourd  cala- 

31 


bash,  and  I  will  push  the  heavens  higher."  The 
woman  handed  the  gourd  to  him.  When  he  had  taken 
a  deep  draught,  he  braced  himself  against  the  clouds 
and  lifted  them  to  the  height  of  the  trees.  Again  he 
hoisted  the  sky  and  carried  it  to  the  tops  of  the  moun- 
tains; then  with  great  exertion  he  thrust  it  upwards 
once  more,  and  pressed  it  to  the  place  it  now  occu- 
pies. Nevertheless  dark  clouds  many  times  hang  low 
along  the  eastern  slope  of  Maui's  great  mountain — 
Haleakala — and  descend  in  heavy  rains  upon  the  hill 
Kauwiki ;  but  they  dare  not  stay,  lest  Maui  the  strong 
come  and  hurl  them  so  far  away  that  they  cannot 
come  back  again. 

A  man  who  had  been  watching  the  process  of  lift- 
ing the  sky  ridiculed  Maui  for  attempting  such  a  diffi- 
cult task.  When  the  clouds  rested  on  the  tops  of  the 
mountains,  Maui  turned  to  punish  his  critic.  The 
man  had  fled  to  the  other  side  of  the  island.  Maui 
rapidly  pursued  and  finally  caught  him  on  the  sea 
coast,  not  many  miles  north  of  the  town  now  known 
as  Lahaina.  After  a  brief  struggle  the  man  was 
changed,  according  to  the  story,  into  a  great  black 
rock,  which  can  be  seen  by  any  traveler  who  desires 
to  localize  the  legends  of  Hawaii. 

In  Samoa  Tiitii,  the  latter  part  of  the  full  name  of 
Mauikiikii,  is  used  as  the  name  of  the  one  who  braced 
his  feet  against  the  rocks  and  pushed  the  sky  up.  The 

32 


foot-prints,  some  six  feet  long,  are  said  to  be  shown 
by  the  natives. 

Another  Samoan  story  is  almost  like  the  Hawaiian 
legend.  The  heavens  had  fallen,  people  crawled,  but 
the  leaves  pushed  up  a  little;  but  the  sky  was  uneven. 
Men  tried  to  walk,  but  hit  their  heads,  and  in  this  con- 
fined space  it  was  very  hot.  A  woman  rewarded  a 
man  who  lifted  the  sky  to  its  proper  place  by  giving 
him  a  drink  of  water  from  her  cocoanut  shell. 

A  number  of  small  groups  of  islands  in  the  Pacific 
have  legends  of  their  skies  being  lifted,  but  they  at- 
tribute the  labor  to  the  great  eels  and  serpents  of 
the  sea. 

One  of  the  Ellice  group,  Niu  Island,  says  that  as 
the  serpent  began  to  lift  the  sky  the  people  clapped 
their  hands  and  shouted  "Lift  up!"  "High!" 
"Higher!"  But  the  body  of  the  serpent  finally  broke 
into  pieces  which  became  islands,  and  the  blood 
sprinkled  its  drops  on  the  sky  and  became  stars. 

One  of  the  Samoan  legends  says  that  a  plant  called 
daiga,  which  had  one  large  umbrella-like  leaf,  pushed 
up  the  sky  and  gave  it  its  shape. 

The  Vatupu,  or  Tracey  Islanders,  said  at  one  time 
the  sky  and  rocks  were  united.  Then  steam  or  clouds 
of  smoke  rose  from  the  rocks,  and,  pouring  out  in 
volumes,  forced  the  sky  away  from  the  earth.  Man 
appeared  in  these  clouds  of  steam  or  smoke.  Perspira- 
tion burst  forth  as  this  man  forced  his  way  through 

33 


the  heated  atmosphere.  From  this  perspiration  woman 
was  formed.  Then  were  born  three  sons,  two  of 
whom  pushed  up  the  sky.  One,  in  the  north,  pushed 
as  far  as  his  arms  would  reach.  The  one  in  the  south 
was  short  and  climbed  a  hill,  pushing  as  he  went  up, 
until  the  sky  was  in  its  proper  place. 

The  Gilbert  Islanders  say  the  sky  was  pushed  up 
by  men  with  long  poles. 

The  ancient  New  Zealanders  understood  incanta- 
tions by  which  they  could  draw  up  or  discover.  They 
found  a  land  where  the  sky  and  the  earth  were  united. 
They  prayed  over  their  stone  axe  and  cut  the  sky  and 
land  apart.  "Hau-hau-tu"  was  the  name  of  the  great 
stone  axe  by  which  the  sinews  of  the  great  heaven 
above  were  severed,  and  Langi  (sky)  was  separated 
fromi  Papa  (earth). 

The  New  Zealand  Maoris  were  accustomed  to  say 
that  at  first  the  sky  rested  close  upon  the  earth  and 
therefore  there  was  utter  darkness  for  ages.  Then 
the  six  sons  of  heaven  and  earth,  born  during  this 
period  of  darkness,  felt  the  need  of  light  and  discussed 
the  necessity  of  separating  their  parents — the  sky  from 
the  earth — and  decided  to  attempt  the  work. 

Rongo  (Hawaiian  god  Lono)  the  "father  of  food 
plants,"  attempted  to  lift  the  sky,  but  could  not  tear 
it  from  the  earth.  Then  Tangaroa  (Kanaloa),  the 
"father  of  fish  and  reptiles,"  failed.  Haumia  Tiki-tiki 
(Maui  Kiikii),  the  "father  of  wild  food  plants,"  could 

34 


not  raise  the  clouds.  Then  Tu  (Hawaiian  Ku),  the 
"father  of  fierce  men,"  struggled  in  vain.  But  Tane 
(Hawaiian  Kane),  the  "father  of  giant  forests," 
pushed  and  lifted  until  he  thrust  the  sky  far  up  above 
him.  Then  they  discovered  their  descendants — the 
multitude  of  human  beings  who  had  been  living  on 
the  earth  concealed  and  crushed  by  the  clouds.  After- 
wards the  last  son,  Tawhiri  (father  of  storms),  was 
angry  and  waged  war  against  his  brothers.  He  hid 
in  the  sheltered  hollows  of  the  great  skies.  There  he 
begot  his  vast  brood  of  winds  and  storms  with  which 
he  finally  drove  all  his  brothers  and  their  descendants 
into  hiding  places  on  land  and  sea.  The  New  Zea- 
landers  mention  the  names  of  the  canoes  in  which 
their  ancestors  fled  from  the  old  home  Hawaiki. 

Tu  (father  of  fierce  men)  and  his  descendants,  how- 
ever, conquered  wind  and  storm  and  have  ever  since 
held  supremacy. 

The  New  Zealand  legends  also  say  that  heaven  and 
earth  have  never  lost  their  love  for  each  other.  "The 
warm  sighs  of  earth  ever  ascend  from  the  wooded 
mountains  and  valleys,  and  men  call  them  mists.  The 
sky  also  lets  fall  frequent  tears  which  men  termi  dew 
drops." 

The  Manihiki  islanders  say  that  Maui  desired  to 
separate  the  sky  from  the  earth.  His  father,  Ru,  was 
the  supporter  of  the  heavens.  Maui  persuaded  him  to 
assist  in  lifting  the  burden.    Maui  went  to  the  north 

35 


and  crept  into  a  place,  where,  lying  prostrate  under 
the  sky,  he  could  brace  himself  against  it  and  push 
with  great  power.  In  the  same  way  Ru  went  to  the 
south  and  braced  himself  against  the  southern  skies. 
Then  they  made  the  signal,  and  both  pressed  "with 
their  backs  against  the  solid  blue  mass."  It  gave  way 
before  the  great  strength  of  the  father  and  son.  Then 
they  lifted  again,  bracing  themselves  with  hands  and 
knees  against  the  earth.  They  crowded  it  and  bent  it 
upward.  They  were  able  to  stand  with  the  sky  resting 
on  their  shoulders.  They  heaved  against  the  bending 
mass,  and  it  receded  rapidly.  They  quickly  put  the 
palms  of  their  hands  under  it;  then  the  tips  of  their 
fingers,  and  it  retreated  farther  and  farther.  At  last, 
"drawing  themselves  out  to  gigantic  proportions,  they 
pushed  the  entire  heavens  up  to  the  very  lofty  position 
which  they  have  ever  since  occupied." 

But  Maui  and  Ru  had  not  worked  perfectly  to- 
gether; therefore  the  sky  was  twisted  and  its  surface 
was  very  irregular.  They  determined  to  smooth  the 
sky  before  they  finished  their  task,  so  they  took  large 
stone  adzes  and  chipped  o&  the  rough  protuberances 
and  ridges,  until  by  and  by  the  great  arch  was  cut  out 
and  smoothed  off.  They  then  took  finer  tools  and 
chipped  and  polished  until  the  sky  became  the  beau- 
tifully finished  blue  dome  which  now  bends  around 
the  earth. 

The  Hervey  Island  myth,  as  related  by  W.  W.  Gill, 

36 


states  that  Ru,  the  father  of  Maui,  came  fronn  Avaiki 
(Hawa-iki),  the  underworld  or  abode  of  the  spirits 
of  the  dead.  He  found  men  crowded  down  by  the 
sky,  which  was  a  mass  of  solid  blue  stone.  He  was 
very  sorry  when  he  saw  the  condition  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  earth,  and  planned  to  raise  the  sky  a  little. 
So  he  planted  stakes  of  different  kinds  of  trees.  These 
were  strong  enough  to  hold  the  sky  so  far  above  the 
earth  "that  men  could  stand  erect  and  walk  about 
without  inconvenience."  This  was  celebrated  in  one 
of  the  Hervey  Island  songs : 

"Force  up  the  heavens, 

O,  Eu! 
And  let  the   space  be  clear." 

For  this  helpful  deed  Ru  received  the  name  "The 
supporter  of  the  heavens."  He  was  rather  proud  of 
his  achievement  and  was  gratified  because  of  the 
praise  received.  So  he  came  sometimes  and  looked  at 
the  stakes  and  the  beautiful  blue  sky  resting  on  them. 
Maui,  the  son,  came  along  and  ridiculed  his  father  for 
thinking  so  much  of  his  work.  Maui  is  not  repre- 
sented, in  the  legends,  as  possessing  a  great  deal  of 
love  and  reverence  for  his  relatives  provided  his  af- 
fection interfered  with  his  mischief;  so  it  was  not  at 
all  strange  that  he  laughed  at  his  father.  Ru  became 
angry  and  said  to  Maui :  "Who  told  youngsters  to 
talk?  Take  care  of  yourself,  or  I  will  hurl  you  out 
of  existence." 

37 


■i    »>   fl   Vy   '"'A   -i 

1  ;0  O  O  J  -i 


Maui  dared  him  to  try  it.  Ru  quickly  seized  him 
and  "threw  him  to  a  great  height."  But  Maui  changed 
himself  to  a  bird  and  sank  back  to  earth  unharmed. 

Then  he  changed  himself  back  into  the  form  of  a 
man,  and,  making  himself  very  large,  ran  and  thrust 
his  head  between  the  old  man's  legs.  He  pried  and 
lifted  until  Ru  and  the  sky  around  him  began  to  give. 
Another  lift  and  he  hurled  them  both  to  such  a  height 
that  the  sky  could  not  come  back. 

Ru  himself  was  entangled  among  the  stars.  His 
head  and  shoulders  stuck  fast,  and  he  could  not  free 
himself.  How  he  struggled,  until  the  skies  shook, 
while  Maui  went  away.  Maui  was  proud  of  his 
achievement  in  having  moved  the  sky  so  far  away. 
In  this  self-rejoicing  he  quickly  forgot  his  father. 

Ru  died  after  a  time.  "His  body  rotted  away  and 
his  bones,  of  vast  proportions,  came  tumbling  down 
from  time  to  time,  and  were  shivered  on  the  earth  into 
countless  fragments.  These  shattered  bones  of  Ru 
are  scattered  over  every  hill  and  valley  of  one  of  the 
islands,  to  the  very  edge  of  the  sea." 

Thus  the  natives  of  the  Hervey  Islands  account  for 
the  many  pieces  of  porous  lava  and  the  small  pieces 
of  pumice  stone  found  occasionally  in  their  islands. 
The  "bones"  were  very  light  and  greatly  resembled 
fragments  of  real  bone.  If  the  fragments  were  large 
enough  they  were  sometimes  taken  and  worshiped  as 
gods.    One  of  these  pieces,  of  extraordinary  size,  was 

38 


given  to  Mr.  Gill  when  the  natives  were  bringing  in 
a  large  collection  of  idols.  "This  one  was  known  as 
'The  Light  Stone,'  and  was  worshiped  as  the  god  of 
the  wind  and  the  waves.  Upon  occasions  of  a  hurri- 
cane, incantations  and  offerings  of  food  would  be 
made  to  it." 

Thus,  according  to  different  Polynesian  legends, 
Maui  raised  the  sky  and  made  the  earth  inhabitable 
for  his  fellow-men. 


39 


IV. 
MAUI  SNARING  THE  SUN. 

"Maui  became  restless   and   fought   the   sun 
With  a  noose  that  he  laid. 
And   winter   won   the   sun, 
And  summer  was  won  by  Maui." 

— Queen  Liliuokalani 's  family  chant. 

AVERY  unique  legend  is  found  among  the 
widely-scattered  Polynesians.  The  story  of 
Maui's  "Snaring  the  Sun"  was  told  among 
the  Maoris  of  New  Zealand,  the  Kanakas  of  the  Her- 
vey  and  Society  Islands,  and  the  ancient  natives  of 
Hawaii.  The  Samoans  tell  the  same  story  without 
mentioning  the  name  of  Maui.  They  say  that  the 
snare  was  cast  by  a  child  of  the  sun  itself. 

The  Polynesian  stories  of  the  origin  of  the  sun  are 
worthy  of  note  before  the  legend  of  the  change  from 
short  to  long  days  is  given. 

The  Tongan  Islanders,  according  to  W.  W.  Gill, 
tell  the  story  of  the  origin  of  the  sun  and  moon.    They 

40 


say  that  Vatea  (Wakea)  and  their  ancestor  Tongaiti 
quarreled  concerning  a  child — each  claiming  it  as  his 
own.  In  the  struggle  the  child  was  cut  in  two.  Vatea 
squeezed  and  rolled  the  part  he  secured  into  a  ball 
and  threw  it  away,  far  up  into  the  heavens,  where  it 
became  the  sun.  It  shone  brightly  as  it  rolled  along 
the  heavens,  and  sank  down  to  Avaiki  (Hawaii),  the 
nether  world.  But  the  ball  cam^e  back  again  and  once 
more  rolled  across  the  sky.  Tonga-iti  had  let  his  half 
of  the  child  fall  on  the  ground  and  lie  there,  until 
made  envious  by  the  beautiful  ball  Vatea  made. 

At  last  he  took  the  flesh  which  lay  on  the  ground 
and  made  it  into  a  ball.  As  the  sun  sank  he  threw 
his  ball  up  into  the  darkness,  and  it  rolled  along  the 
heavens,  but  the  blood  had  drained  out  of  the  flesh 
while  it  lay  upon  the  ground,  therefore  it  could  not 
become  so  red  and  burning  as  the  sun,  and  had  not 
life  to  move  so  swiftly.  It  was  as  white  as  a  dead 
body,  because  its  blood  was  all  gone ;  and  it  could  not 
make  the  darkness  flee  away  as  the  sun  had  done. 
Thus  day  and  night  and  the  sun  and  moon  always 
remain  with  the  earth. 

The  legends  of  the  Society  Islands  say  that  a  demon 
in  the  west  became  angry  with  the  sun  and  in  his 
rage  ate  it  up,  causing  night.  In  the  same  way  a 
demon  from  the  east  would  devour  the  moori,  but  for 
some  reason  these  angry  ones  could  not  destroy  their 
captives   and   were   compelled   to  open   their   mouths 

41 


and  let  the  bright  balls  come  forth  once  more.  In 
some  places  a  sacrifice  of  some  one  of  distinction  was 
needed  to  placate  the  wrath  of  the  devourers  and  free 
the  balls  of  light  in  times  of  eclipse. 

The  moon,  pale  and  dead  in  appearance,  moved 
slowly;  while  the  sun,  full  of  life  and  strength,  moved 
quickly.  Thus  days  were  very  short  and  nights  were 
very  long.  Mankind  suffered  from  the  fierceness  of 
the  heat  of  the  sun  and  also  from  its  prolonged  ab- 
sence. Day  and  night  were  alike  a  burden  to  men. 
The  darkness  was  so  great  and  lasted  so  long  that 
fruits  would  not  ripen. 

After  Maui  had  succeeded  in  throwing  the  heavens 
into  their  place,  and  fastening  them  so  that  they  could 
not  fall,  he  learned  that  he  had  opened  a  way  for  the 
sun-god  to  come  up  from  the  lower  world  and  rapidly 
run  across  the  blue  vault.  This  made  two  troubles 
for  men — the  heat  of  the  sun  was  very  great  and  the 
journey  too  quickly  over.  Maui  planned  to  capture 
the  sun  and  punish  him  for  thinking  so  little  about 
the  welfare   of  mankind. 

As  Rev.  A.  O.  Forbes,  a  missionary  among  the  Ha- 
waiians,  relates,  Maui's  mother  was  troubled  very 
much  by  the  heedless  haste  of  the  sun.  She  had  many 
kapa-cloths  to  make,  for  this  was  the  only  kind  of 
clothing  known  in  Hawaii,  except  sometimes  a  woven 
mat  or  a  long  grass  fringe  worn  as  a  skirt.  This  na- 
tive cloth  was  made  by  pounding  the  fine  bark  of  cer- 

42 


lao  Mountain  From  the  Sea. 


tain  trees  with  wooden  mallets  until  the  fibres  were 
beaten  and  ground  into  a  wood  pulp.  Then  she 
pounded  the  pulp  into  thin  sheets  from  which  the 
best  sleeping  mats  and  clothes  could  be  fashioned. 
These  kapa  cloths  had  to  be  thoroughly  dried,  but 
the  days  were  so  short  that  by  the  time  she  had 
spread  out  the  kapa  the  sun  had  heedlessly  rushed 
across  the  sky  and  gone  down  into  the  under-world, 
and  all  the  cloth  had  to  be  gathered  up  again  and 
cared  for  until  another  day  should  come.  There  were 
other  troubles.  "The  food  could  not  be  prepared  and 
cooked  in  one  day.  Even  an  incantation  to  the  gods 
could  not  be  chanted  through  ere  they  were  overtaken 
by  darkness." 

This  was  very  discouraging  and  caused  great  suf- 
fering, as  well  as  much  unnecessary  trouble  and  labor. 
Many  complaints  were  made  against  the  thoughtless 
sun. 

Maui  pitied  his  mother  and  determined  to  make  the 
sun  go  slower  that  the  days  might  be  long  enough  to 
satisfy  the  needs  of  men.  Therefore,  he  went  over  to 
the  northwest  of  the  island  on  which  he  lived.  This 
was  Mt.  lao,  an  extinct  volcano,  in  which  lies  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  picturesque  valleys  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  He  climbed  the  ridges  until  he 
could  see  the  course  of  the  sun  as  it  passed  over  the 
island.  He  saw  that  the  sun  came  up  the  eastern 
side  of  Mt.  Haleakala.    He  crossed  over  the  plain  be- 

43 


tween  the  two  mountains  and  climbed  to  the  top  of 
Mt.  Haleakala.  There  he  watched  the  burning  sun 
as  it  came  up  from  Koolau  and  passed  directly  over 
the  top  of  the  mountain.  The  summit  of  Haleakala 
is  a  great  extinct  crater  twenty  miles  in  circumfer- 
ence, and  nearly  twenty-five  hundred  feet  in  depth. 
There  are  two  tremendous  gaps  or  chasms  in  the 
side  of  the  crater  wall,  through  which  in  days  gone 
by  the  massive  bowl  poured  forth  its  flowing  lava. 
One  of  these  was  the  Koolau,  or  eastern  gap,  in  which 
Maui  probably  planned  to  catch   the  sun. 

Mt,  Hale-a-ka-la  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  means 
House-of-the-sun.  "La,"  or  "Ra,"  is  the  name  of  the 
sun  throughout  parts  of  Polynesia.  Ra  was  the  sun- 
god  of  ancient  Egypt.  Thus  the  antiquities  of  Poly- 
nesia and  Egypt  touch  each  other,  and  today  no  man 
knows  the  full  reason  thereof. 

The  Hawaiian  legend  says  Maui  was  taunted  by  a 
man  who  ridiculed  the  idea  that  he  could  snare  the 
sun,  saying,  "You  will  never  catch  the  sun.  You  are 
only  an  idle  nobody." 

Maui  replied,  "When  I  conquer  my  enemy  and  my 
desire  is  attained,  I  will  be  your  death." 

After  studying  the  path  of  the  sun,  Maui  returned 
to  his  mother  and  told  her  that  he  would  go  and  cut 
off  the  legs  of  the  sun  so  that  he  could  not  run  so 
fast. 

His  mother  said :    "Are  you  strong  enough  for  this 

44 


work?"  He  said,  "Yes."  Then  she  gave  him  fifteen 
strands  of  well-twisted  fiber  and  told  him  to  go  to  his 
grandmother,  who  lived  in  the  great  crater  of  Hale- 
akala,  for  the  rest  of  the  things  in  his  conflict  with 
the  sun.  She  said:  "You  must  climb  the  mountain 
to  the  place  where  a  large  wiliwili  tree  is  standing. 
There  you  will  find  the  place  where  the  sun  stops  to 
eat  cooked  bananas  prepared  by  your  grandmother. 
Stay  there  until  a  rooster  crows  three  times;  then 
watch  your  grandmother  go  out  to  make  a  fire  and 
put  on  food.  You  had  better  take  her  bananas.  She 
will  look  for  them  and  find  you  and  ask  who  you  are. 
Tell  her  you  belong  to  Hina." 

When  she  had  taught  him  all  these  things,  he  went 
up  the  mountain  to  Kaupo  to  the  place  Hina  had  di- 
rected. There  was  a  large  wiliwili  tree.  Here  he 
waited  for  the  rooster  to  crow.  The  name  of  that 
rooster  was  Kalauhele-moa.  When  the  rooster  had 
crowed  three  times,  the  grandmother  came  out  with 
a  bunch  of  bananas  to  cook  for  the  sun.  She  took  oflf 
the  upper  part  of  the  bunch  and  laid  it  down.  Maui 
immediately  snatched  it  away.  In  a  moment  she 
turned  to  pick  it  up,  but  could  not  find  it.  She  was 
angry  and  cried  out:  "Where  are  the  bananas  of  the 
sun?"  Then  she  took  off  another  part  of  the  bunch, 
and  Maui  stole  that.  Thus  he  did  until  all  the  bunch 
had  been  taken  away.  She  was  almost  blind  and 
could  not  detect  him  by  sight,  so  she  snififed  all  around 

45 


her  until  she  detected  the  smell  of  a  man.  She  asked : 
"Who  are  you?  To  whom  do  you  belong?"  Maui 
replied:  "I  belong  to  Hina."  "Why  have  you  come?" 
Maui  told  her,  "I  have  come  to  kill  the  sun.  He  goes 
so  fast  that  he  never  dries  the  tapa  Hina  has  beaten 
out." 

The  old  woman  gave  a  magic  stone  for  a  battle  axe 
and  one  more  rope.  She  taught  him  how  to  catch  the 
sun,  saying:  "Make  a  place  to  hide  here  by  this  large 
wiliwili  tree.  When  the  first  leg  of  the  sun  comes  up, 
catch  it  with  your  first  rope,  and  so  on  until  you  have 
used  all  your  ropes.  Fasten  them  to  the  tree,  then 
take  the  stone  axe  to  strike  the  body  of  the  sun." 

Maui  dug  a  hole  among  the  roots  of  the  tree  and 
concealed  himself.  Soon  the  first  ray  of  light — the 
first  leg  of  the  sun — came  up  along  the  mountain  side. 
Maui  threw  his  rope  and  caught  it.  One  by  one  the 
legs  of  the  sun  came  over  the  edge  of  the  crater's  rim 
and  were  caught.  Only  one  long  leg  was  still  hang- 
ing down  the  side  of  the  mountain.  It  was  hard  for 
the  sun  to  move  that  leg.  It  shook  and  trembled  and 
tried  hard  to  come  up.  At  last  it  crept  over  the  edge 
and  was  caught  by  Maui  with  the  rope  given  by  his 
grandmother. 

When  the  sun  saw  that  his  sixteen  long  legs  were 
held  fast  in  the  ropes,  he  began  to  go  back  down  the 
mountain  side  into  the  sea.  Then  Maui  tied  the  ropes 
fast  to  the  tree  and  pulled  until  the  body  of  the  sun 

46 


came  up  again.  Brave  Maui  caught  his  magic  stone 
chib  or  axe,  and  began  to  strike  and  wound  the  sun, 
until  he  cried:  "Give  me  my  Hfe."  Maui  said:  "If  you 
Hve,  you  may  be  a  traitor.  Perhaps  I  had  better  kill  you.'' 
But  the  sun  begged  for  life.  After  they  had  conversed 
a  while,  they  agreed  that  there  should  be  a  regular 
motion  in  the  journey  of  the  sun.  There  should  be 
longer  days,  and  yet  half  the  time  he  might  go 
quickly  as  in  the  winter  time,  but  the  other  half  he 
must  move  slowly  as  in  sum^mer.  Thus  men  dwelling 
on  the  earth  should  be  blessed. 

Another  legend  says  that  he  made  a  lasso  and 
climbed  to  the  summit  of  Mt.  Haleakala.  He  made 
ready  his  lasso,  so  that  when  the  sun  came  up  the 
mountain  side  and  rose  above  him  he  could  cast  the 
noose  and  catch  the  sun,  but  he  only  snared  one  of 
the  sun's  larger  rays  and  broke  it  off.  Again  and 
again  he  threw  the  lasso  until  he  had  broken  off  all 
the  strong  rays  of  the  sun. 

Then  he  shouted  exultantly,  "Thou  art  my  captive; 
I  will  kill  thee  for  going  so  swiftly." 

Then  the  sun  said,  "Let  me  live  and  thou  shalt  see 
me  go  more  slowly  hereafter.  Behold,  hast  thou  not 
broken  ofif  all  my  strong  legs  and  left  me  only  the 
weak  ones?" 

So  the  agreement  was  made,  and  Maui  permitted 
the  sun  to  pursue  his  course,  and  from  that  day  he 
went  more  slowly. 

47 


Maui  returned  frorm  his  conflict  with  the  sun  and 
sought  for  Moemoe,  the  man  who  had  ridiculed  him. 
Maui  chased  this  man  around  the  island  from  one 
side  to  the  other  until  they  had  passed  through  La- 
haina  (one  of  the  first  mission  stations  in  1828). 
There  on  the  seashore  near  the  large  black  rock  of  the 
legend  of  Maui  lifting  the  sky  he  found  Moemoe. 
Then  they  left  the  seashore  and  the  contest  raged  up 
hill  and  down  until  Maui  slew  the  man  and  "changed 
the  body  into  a  long  rock,  which  is  there  to  this  day, 
by  the  side  of  the  road  going  past  Black  Rock." 

Before  the  battle  with  the  sun  occurred  Maui  went 
down  into  the  underworld,  according  to  the  New  Zea- 
land tradition,  and  remained  a  long  time  with  his  rela- 
tives. In  some  way  he  learned  that  there  was  an  en- 
chanted jawbone  in  the  possession  of  some  one  of  his 
ancestors,  so  he  waited  and  waited,  hoping  that  at 
last  he  might  discover  it. 

After  a  time  he  noticed  that  presents  of  food  were 
being  sent  away  to  some  person  whom  he  had  not  met. 

One  day  he  asked  the  miessengers,  "Who  is  it  you 
are  taking  that  present  of  food  to?" 

The  people  answered,  "It  is  for  Muri,  your  an- 
cestress." 

Then  he  asked  for  the  food,  saying,  "I  will  carry 
it  to  her  myself." 

But  he  took  the  food  away  and  hid  it.     "And  this 

48 


he   did  for   many  days,"   and   the   presents   failed   to 
reach  the  old  woman. 

By  and  by  she  suspected  mischief,  for  it  did  not 
seem  as  if  her  friends  would  neglect  her  so  long  a 
time,  so  she  thought  she  would  catch  the  tricky  one 
and  eat  him.  She  depended  upon  her  sense  of  smell 
to  detect  the  one  who  had  troubled  her.  As  Sir  George 
Grey  tells  the  story:  "When  Maui  came  along  the 
path  carrying  the  present  of  food,  the  old  chiefess 
sniffed  and  sniffed  until  she  was  sure  that  she  smelt 
some  one  coming.  She  was  very  much  exasperated, 
and  her  stomach  began  to  distend  itself  that  she 
might  be  ready  to  devour  this  one  when  he  came  near. 

Then  she  turned  toward  the  south  and  sniffed  and 
not  a  scent  of  anything  reached  her.  Then  she  turned 
to  the  north,  and  to  the  east,  but  could  not  detect  the 
odor  of  a  human  being.  She  made  one  more  trial  and 
turned  toward  the  west.  Ah!  then  cam«  the  scent  of 
a  man  to  her  plainly  and  she  called  out,  T  know,  from 
the  smell  wafted  to  me  by  the  breeze,  that  somebody 
is  close  to  me.' " 

Maui  made  known  his  presence  and  the  old  woman 
knew  that  he  was  a  descendant  of  hers,  and  her  stom- 
ach began  immediately  to  shrink  and  contract  itself 


agam. 


Then  she  asked,  "Art  thou  Maui?" 

He   answered,    "Even    so,"   and   told   her   that   he 

49 


wanted  "the  jaw-bone  by  which  great  enchantments 
could  be  wrought." 

Then  Muri,  the  old  chiefess,  gave  him  the  magic 
bone  and  he  returned  to  his  brothers,  who  were  still 
living  on  the  earth. 

Then  Maui  said :  "Let  us  now  catch  the  sun  in  a 
noose  that  we  may  compel  him  to  move  more  slowly 
in  order  that  mankind  may  have  long  days  to  labor  in 
and  procure  subsistence  for  themselves." 

They  replied,  "No  man  can  approach  it  on  account 
of  the  fierceness  of  the  heat." 

According  to  the  Society  Island  legend,  his  mother 
advised  him  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  sun,  who 
was  a  divine  living  creature,  "in  form  like  a  man, 
possessed  of  fearful  energy,"  shaking  his  golden  locks 
both  morning  and  evening  in  the  eyes  of  men.  Many 
persons  had  tried  to  regulate  the  movements  of  the 
sun,  but  had  failed  completely. 

But  Maui  encouraged  his  mother  and  his  brothers 
by  asking  them  to  remember  his  power  to  protect 
himself  by  the  use  of  enchantments. 

The  Hawaiian  legend  says  that  Maui  himself  gath- 
ered cocoanut  fibre  in  great  quantity  and  manufac- 
tured it  into  strong  ropes.  But  the  legends  of  other 
islands  say  that  he  had  the  aid  of  his  brothers,  and 
while  working  learned  many  useful  lessons.  While 
winding  and  twisting  they  discovered  how  to  make 
square  ropes  and  flat  ropes  as  well  as  the  ordinary 

50 


round  rope.  In  the  Society  Islands,  it  is  said,  Maui 
and  his  brothers  made  six  strong  ropes  of  great 
length.     These  he  called  aeiariki   (royal  nooses). 

The  New  Zealand  legend  says  that  when  Maui  and 
his  brothers  had  finished  making  all  the  ropes  re- 
quired they  took  provisions  and  other  things  needed 
and  journeyed  toward  the  east  to  find  the  place  where 
the  sun  should  rise.  Maui  carried  with  him  the  magic 
jaw-bone  which  he  had  secured  from  Muri,  his  an- 
cestress, in  the  under-world. 

They  traveled  all  night  and  concealed  themselves  by 
day  so  that  the  sun  should  not  see  them  and  become 
too  suspicious  and  watchful.  In  this  way  they  jour- 
neyed, until  "at  length  they  had  gone  very  far  to  the 
eastward  and  had  come  to  the  very  edge  of  the  place 
out  of  which  the  sun  rises.  There  they  set  to  work 
and  built  on  each  side  a  long,  high  wall  of  clay,  with 
huts  of  boughs  of  trees  at  each  end  to  hide  them- 
selves in." 

Here  they  laid  a  large  noose  made  from  their  ropes 
and  Maui  concealed  himself  on  one  side  of  this  place 
along  which  the  sun  must  come,  while  his  brothers 
hid  on  the  other  side. 

Maui  seized  his  magic  enchanted  jaw-bone  as  the 
weapon  with  which  to  fight  the  sun,  and  ordered  his 
brothers  to  pull  hard  on  the  noose  and  not  to  be 
frightened  or  moved  to  set  the  sun  free. 

"At  last  the  sun  came  rising  up  out  of  his  place  like 

51 


a  fire  spreading  far  and  wide  over  the  mountains  and 
forests. 

He  rises  up. 

His  head  passes  through  the  noose. 

The  ropes  are  pulled  tight. 

Then  the  monster  began  to  struggle  and  roll  him- 
self about,  while  the  snare  jerked  backwards  and  for- 
wards as  he  struggled.  Ah !  was  not  he  held  fast  in 
the  ropes  of  his  enemies. 

Then  forth  rushed  that  bold  hero  Maui  with  his 
enchanted  weapon.  The  sun  screamed  aloud  and 
roared.  Maui  struck  him  fiercely  with  many  blows. 
They  held  him  for  a  long  time.  At  last  they  let  him 
go,  and  then  weak  from  wounds  the  sun  crept  very 
slowly  and  feebly  along  his  course." 

In  this  way  the  days  were  made  longer  so  that  men 
could  perform  their  daily  tasks  and  fruits  and  food 
plants  could  have  time  to  grow. 

The  legend  of  the  Hervey  group  of  islands  says 
that  Maui  made  six  snares  and  placed  them  at  inter- 
vals along  the  path  over  which  the  sun  must  pass. 
The  sun  in  the  form  of  a  man  climbed  up  from  Ava- 
iki  (Hawaiki).  Maui  pulled  the  first  noose,  but  it 
slipped  down  the  rising  sun  until  it  caught  and  was 
pulled  tight  around  his  feet. 

Maui  ran  quickly  to  pull  the  ropes  of  the  second 
snare,  but  that  also  slipped  down,  down,  until  it  was 
tightened  around  the  knees.    Then  Maui  hastened  to 

52 


Hale-a-ka-Ia  Crater,  Where  the  Sun  Was  Caught. 


the  third  snare,  while  the  sun  was  trying  to  rush 
along  on  his  journey.  The  third  snare  caught  around 
the  hips.  The  fourth  snare  fastened  itself  around  the 
waist.  The  fifth  slipped  under  the  arms,  and  yet  the 
sun  sped  along  as  if  but  little  inconvenienced  by 
Maui's  efforts. 

Then  Maui  caught  the  last  noose  and  threw  it 
around  the  neck  of  the  sun,  and  fastened  the  rope  to 
a  spur  of  rock.  The  sun  struggled  until  nearly 
strangled  to  death  and  then  gave  up,  promising  Maui 
that  he  would  go  as  slowly  as  was  desired.  Maui  left 
the  snares  fastened  to  the  sun  to  keep  him  in  con- 
stant fear. 

"These  ropes  may  still  be  seen  hanging  from  the 
sun  at  dawn  and  stretching  into  the  skies  when  he 
descends  into  the  ocean  at  night.  By  the  assistance 
of  these  ropes  he  is  gently  let  down  into  Ava-iki  in 
the  evening,  and  also  raised  up  out  of  shadow-land  in 
the  morning." 

Another  legend  from  the  Society  Islands  is  related 
by  Mr.  Gill: 

Maui  tried  many  snares  before  he  could  catch  the 
sun.  The  sun  was  the  Hercules,  or  the  Samson,  of 
the  heavens.  He  broke  the  strong  cords  of  cocoanut 
fibre  which  Maui  made  and  placed  around  the  opening 
by  which  the  sun  climbed  out  from  the  under-world. 
Maui  made  stronger  ropes,  but  still  the  sun  broke 
them  every  one. 

53 


Then  Maui  thought  of  his  sister's  hair,  the  sister 
Inaika,  whom  he  cruelly  treated  in  later  years.  Her 
hair  was  long  and  beautiful.  He  cut  off  some  of  it 
and  made  a  strong  rope.  With  this  he  lassoed  or 
rather  snared  the  sun,  and  caught  him  around  the 
throat.  The  sun  quickly  promised  to  be  more  thought- 
ful of  the  needs  of  men  and  go  at  a  more  reasonable 
pace  across  the  sky. 

A  story  from  the  American  Indians  is  told  in  Ha- 
waii's Young  People,  which  is  very  similar  to  the 
Polynesian  legends. 

An  Indian  boy  became  very  angry  with  the  sun  for 
getting  so  warm  and  making  his  clothes  shrink  with 
the  heat.  He  told  his  sister  to  make  a  snare.  The 
girl  took  sinews  from  a  large  deer,  but  they  shriveled 
under  the  heat.  She  took  her  own  long  hair  and  made 
snares,  but  they  were  burned  in  a  moment.  Then 
she  tried  the  fibres  of  various  plants  and  was  success- 
ful. Her  brother  took  the  fibre  cord  and  drew  it 
through  his  lips.  It  stretched  and  became  a  strong 
red  cord.  He  pulled  and  it  became  very  long.  He 
went  to  the  place  of  sunrise,  fixed  his  snare,  and 
caught  the  sun.  When  the  sun  had  been  sufficiently 
punished,  the  animals  of  the  earth  studied  the  problem 
of  setting  the  sun  free.  At  last  a  mouse  as  large  as  a 
mountain  ran  and  gnawed  the  red  cord.  It  broke  and 
the   sun   moved   on,   but   the    poor   mouse   had   been 

54 


burned  and  shriveled  into  the  small  mouse  of  the 
present  day. 

A  Samoan  legend  says  that  a  woman  living  for  a 
time  with  the  sun  bore  a  child  who  had  the  name 
"Child  of  the  Sun."  She  wanted  gifts  for  the  child's 
marriage,  so  she  took  a  long  vine,  climbed  a  tree,  made 
the  vine  into  a  noose,  lassoed  the  sun,  and  made  him 
give  her  a  basket  of  blessings. 

In  Fiji,  the  natives  tie  the  grasses  growing  on  a 
hilltop  over  which  they  are  passing,  when  traveling 
from  place  to  place.  They  do  this  to  make  a  snare  to 
catch  the  sun  if  he  should  try  to  go  down  before  they 
reach  the  end  of  their  day's  journey. 

This  legend  is  a  misty  memory  of  some  time  when 
the  Polynesian  people  were  in  contact  with  the  short 
days  of  the  extreme  north  or  south.  It  is  a  very  re- 
markable exposition  of  a  fact  of  nature  perpetuated 
many  centuries  in  lands  absolutely  free  from  such 
natural  phenomena. 


55 


/ 


V. 

MAUI  FINDING  FIRE. 

"Grant,    oh    grant    me    thy    hidden    fire, 
O  Banyan  Tree. 
Perform   an   incantation. 
Utter  a  prayer 

To  the  Banyan  Tree. 
Kindle  a  fire  in   the   dust 
Of  the   Banyan   Tree." 
— Translation  of  ancient  Polynesian  chant. 

MONG  Students  of  mythology  certain  charac- 
ters in  the  legends  of  the  various  nations  are 
known  as  "culture  heroes."  Mankind  has 
from  time  to  time  learned  exceedingly  useful  lessons 
and  has  also  usually  ascribed  the  new  knowledge  to 
some  noted  person  in  the  national  mythology.  These 
mythical  benefactors  who  have  brought  these  prac- 
tical benefits  to  men  are  placed  among  the  "hero- 
gods."  They  have  been  teachers  or  "culture  heroes" 
to  mankind. 

56 


A 


Probably  the  fire  finders  of  the  different  nations  are 
among  the  best  remembered  of  all  these  benefactors. 
This  would  naturally  be  the  case,  for  no  greater  good 
has  touched  man's  physical  life  than  the  discovery  of 
methods  of  making  fire. 

Prometheus,  the  classical  fire  finder,  is  most  widely 
known  in  literature.  But  of  all  the  helpful  gods  of 
mythology,  Maui,  the  mischievous  Polynesian,  is  be- 
yond question  the  hero  of  the  largest  numbers  of  na- 
tions scattered  over  the  widest  extent  of  territory. 
Prometheus  belonged  to  Rome,  but  Maui  belonged  to 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Theft 
or  trickery,  the  use  of  deceit  of  some  kind,  is  almost 
inseparably  connected  with  fire  finding  all  over  the 
world.  Prometheus  stole  fire  irom  Jupiter  and  gave 
it  to  men  together  with  the  genius  to  make  use  of  it 
in  the  arts  and  sciences.  He  found  the  rolling  chariot 
of  the  sun,  secretly  filled  his  hollow  staff  with  fire, 
carried  it  to  earth,  put  a  part  in  the  breast  of  man  to 
create  enthusiasm  or  animation,  and  saved  the  re- 
mainder for  the  comfort  of  mankind  to  be  used  with 
the  artist  skill  of  Minerva  and  Vulcan.  In  Brittany 
the  golden  or  fire-crested  wren  steals  fire  and  is  red- 
marked  while  so  doing.  The  animals  of  the  North 
American  Indians  are  represented  as  stealing  fire 
sometimes  from  the  cuttle  fish  and  sometimes  from 
one  another.    Some  swiftly-flying  bird  or  fleet-footed 


57 


coyote  would  carry  the  stolen  fire  to  the  honne  of  the 
tribe. 

The  possession  of  fire  meant  to  the  ancients  all 
that  wealth  means  to  the  family  of  today.  It  meant 
the  possession  of  comfort.  The  gods  were  naturally 
determined  to  keep  this  wealth  in  their  own  hands. 
For  any  one  to  make  a  sharp  deal  and  cheat  a  god 
of  fire  out  of  a  part  of  this  valuable  property  or  to 
make  a  courageous  raid  upon  the  fire  guardian  and 
steal  the  treasure,  was  easily  sufficient  to  make  that 
one  a  "culture  hero."  As  a  matter  of  fact  a  prehis- 
toric family  without  fire  would  go  to  any  length  in 
order  to  get  it.  The  fire  finders  would  naturally  be 
the  hero-gods  and  stealing  fire  would  be  an  exploit 
rather  than  a  crime. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  in  many  myths  not  only  was 
fire  stolen,  but  birds  marked  by  red  or  black  spots 
among  their  feathers  were  associated  with  the  theft. 

It  would  naturally  be  supposed  that  the  Hawaiians 
living  in  a  volcanic  country  with  ever-flowing  foun- 
tains of  lava,  would  connect  their  fire  myths  with  some 
volcano  when  relating  the  story  of  the  origin  of  fire. 
But  like  the  rest  of  the  Polynesians,  they  found  fire 
in  trees  rather  than  in  rivers  of  melted  rock.  They 
mmst  have  brought  their  fire  legends  and  fire  customs 
with  them  when  they  came  to  the  islands  of  active 
volcanoes.  ^i> 

Flint  rocks  as  fire  producers  are  not  found  in  the 

58 


Hawaiian  myths,  nor  in  the  stories  from  the  island 
groups  related  to  the  Hawaiians.  Indians  might  see 
the  fleeing  buffalo  strike  fire  from  the  stones  under 
his  hard  hoofs.  The  Tartars  might  have  a  god  to 
teach  them  "the  secret  of  the  stone's  edge  and  the 
iron's  hardness."  The  Peruvians  could  very  easily 
form  a  legend  of  their  mythical  father  Guamansuri 
finding  a  way  to  make  fire  after  he  had  seen  the  sling 
stones,  thrown  at  his  enemies,  bring  forth  sparks  of 
fire  from  the  rocks  against  which  they  struck.  The 
thunder  and  the  lightning  of  later  years  were  the 
sparks  and  the  crash  of  stones  hurled  among  the  cloud 
mountains  by  the  mighty  gods. 

In  Australia  the  story  is  told  of  an  old  man  and  his 
daughter  who  lived  in  great  darkness.  After  a  time 
the  father  found  the  doorway  of  light  through  which 
the  sun  passed  on  his  journey.  He  opened  the  door 
and  a  flood  of  sunshine  covered  the  earth.  His 
daughter  looked  around  her  hom'C  and  saw  numbers 
of  serpents.  She  seized  a  staff  and  began  to  kill 
them.  She  wielded  it  so  vigorously  that  it  became  hot 
in  her  hands.  At  last  it  broke,  but  the  pieces  rubbed 
against  each  other  and  flashed  into  sparks  and  flames. 
Thus  it  was  learned  that  fire  was  buried  in  wood. 

Flints  were  known  in  Europe  and  Asia  and  Amer- 
ica, but  the  Polynesian  looked  to  the  banyan  and  kin- 
dred trees  for  the  hidden  sparks  of  fire.  The  natives 
of  De  Peyster's  Island  say  that  their  ancestors  learned 

59 


how  to  make  fire  by  seeing  smoke  rise  from  crossed 
branches  rubbing  together  while  trees  were  shaken 
by  fierce  winds. 

In  studying  the  Maui  myths  of  the  Pacific  it  is 
necessary  to  remember  that  Polynesians  use  "t"  and 
"k"  without  distinguishing  them  apart,  and  also  as 
in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  an  apostrophe  (')  is  often 
used  in  place  of  "t"  or  "k".  Therefore  the  Maui 
Ki-i-k-i'i  of  Hawaii  becomes  the  demi-god  Tiki-tiki  of 
the  Gilbert  Islands — or  the  Ti'i-ti'i  of  Samoa  or  the 
Tiki  of  New  Zealand — or  other  islands  of  the  great 
ocean.  We  must  also  remember  that  in  the  Hawaiian 
legends  Kalana  is  Maui's  father.  This  in  other  groups 
becomes  Talanga  or  Kalanga  or  Karanga,  Kanaloa, 
the  great  god  of  most  of  the  different  Polynesians,  is 
also  sometimes  called  the  Father  of  Maui.  It  is  not 
strange  that  some  of  the  exploits  usually  ascribed  to 
Maui  should  be  in  some  places  transferred  to  his 
father  under  one  name  or  the  other.  On  one  or  two 
groups  Mafuia,  an  ancestress  of  Maui,  is  mentioned 
as  finding  the  fire.  The  usual  legend  makes  Maui  the 
one  who  takes  fire  away  from  Mafuia.  The  story  of 
fire  finding  in  Polynesia  sifts  itself  to  Maui  under  one 
of  his  widely-accepted  names,  or  to  his  father  or  to 
his  ancestress — with  but  very  few  exceptions.  This 
fact  is  important  as  showing  in  a  very  marked  man- 
ner the  race  relationship  of  a  vast  number  of  the 
islanders  of  the   Pacific  world.      From   the   Marshall 

60 


Islands,  in  the  west,  to  the  Society  Islands  of  the 
east;  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  the  north  to  the 
New  Zealand  group  in  the  south,  the  footsteps  of 
Maui  the  fire  finder  can  be  traced. 

The  Hawaiian  story  of  fire  finding  is  one  of  the 
least  marvelous  of  all  the  legends.  Hina,  Maui's 
mother,  wanted  fish.  One  morning  early  Maui  saw 
that  the  great  storm  waves  of  the  sea  had  died  down 
and  the  fishing  grounds  could  be  easily  reached.  He 
awakened  his  brothers  and  with  them  hastened  to  the 
beach.  This  was  at  Kaupo  on  the  island  of  Maui. 
Out  into  the  gray  shadows  of  the  dawn  they  paddled. 
When  they  were  far  from  shore  they  began  to  fish. 
But  Maui,  looking  landward,  saw  a  fire  on  the  moun- 
tain side. 

"Behold,"  he  cried.  "There  is  a  fire  burning.  Whose 
can  this  fire  be?" 

"Whose,  indeed?"  his  brothers  replied. 

"Let  us  hasten  to  the  shore  and  cook  our  food," 
said  one. 

They  decided  that  they  had  better  catch  some  fish  to 
cook  before  they  returned.  Thus,  in  the  morning,  be- 
fore the  hot  sun  drove  the  fish  deep  down  to  the  dark 
recesses  of  the  sea,  they  fished  until  a  bountiful  sup- 
ply lay  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe. 

When  they  came  to  land,  Maui  leaped  out  and  ran 
up  the  mountain  side  to  get  the  fire.  For  a  long,  long 
time  they  had  been  without  fire.    The  great  volcano 

61 


Haleakala  above  them  had  become  extinct — and  they 
had  lost  the  coals  they  had  tried  to  keep  alive.  They 
had  eaten  fruits  and  uncooked  roots  and  the  shell  fish 
broken  from  the  reef — and  sometimes  the  great  raw 
fish  from  the  far-out  ocean.  But  now  they  hoped  to 
gain  living  fire  and  cooked  food. 

But  when  Maui  rushed  up  toward  the  cloudy  pillar 
of  smoke  he  saw  a  family  of  birds  scratching  the  fire 
out.  Their  work  was  finished  and  they  flew  away 
just  as  he  reached  the  place. 

Maui  and  his  brothers  watched  for  fire  day  after 
day — but  the  birds,  the  curly-tailed  Alae  (or  the  mud- 
hens)  made  no  fire.  Finally  the  brothers  went  fishing 
once  more — but  when  they  looked  toward  the  moun- 
tain, again  they  saw  flames  and  smoke.  Thus  it  hap- 
pened to  them  again  and  again. 

Maui  proposed  to  his  brothers  that  they  go  fishing 
leaving  him  to  watch  the  birds.  But  the  Alae  counted 
the  fishermen  and  refused  to  build  a  fire  for  the  hidden 
one  who  was  watching  them.  They  said  among  them- 
selves, "Three  are  in  the  boat  and  we  know  not  where 
the  other  one  is,  we  will  make  no  fire  today." 

So  the  experiment  failed  again  and  again.  If  one 
or  two  remained  or  if  all  waited  on  the  land  there 
would  be  no  fire — but  the  dawn  which  saw  the  four 
brothers  in  the  boat,  saw  also  the  fire  on  the  land. 

Finally  Maui  rolled  some  kapa  cloth  together  and 
stuck  it  up  in  one  end  of  the  canoe  so  that  it  would 

62 


look  like  a  man.  He  then  concealed  himself  near  the 
haunt  of  the  mud-hens,  while  his  brothers  went  out 
fishing.  The  birds  counted  the  figures  in  the  boat 
and  then  started  to  build  a  heap  of  wood  for  the  fire. 

Maui  was  impatient — and  just  as  the  old  Alae  be- 
gan to  select  sticks  with  which  to  make  the  flames 
he  leaped  swiftly  out  and  caught  her  and  held  her 
prisoner.  He  forgot  for  a  moment  that  he  wanted 
the  secret  of  fire  making.  In  his  anger  against  the 
wise  bird  his  first  impulse  was  to  taunt  her  and  then 
kill  her  for  hiding  the  secret  of  fire. 

But  the  Alae  cried  out:  "If  you  are  the  death  of 
me — my  secret  will  perish  also — and  you  cannot  have 
fire." 

Maui  then  promised  to  spare  her  life  if  she  would 
tell  him  what  to  do. 

Then  came  the  contest  of  wits.  The  bird  told  the 
demi-god  to  rub  the  stalks  of  water  plants  together. 
He  guarded  the  bird  and  tried  the  plants.  Water  in- 
stead of  fire  ran  out  of  the  twisted  stems.  Then  she 
told  him  to  rub  reeds  together — but  they  bent  and 
broke  and  could  make  no  fire.  He  twisted  her  neck 
until  she  was  half  dead — then  she  cried  out:  "I  have 
hidden  the  fire  in  a  green  stick." 

Maui  worked  hard,  but  not  a  spark  of  fire  appeared. 
Again  he  caught  his  prisoner  by  the  head  and  wrung 
her  neck,  and  she  named  a  kind  of  dry  wood.  Maui 
rubbed  the    sticks    together,   but    they  only  became 

63 


warm.  The  neck  twisting  process  was  resumed — 
and  repeated  again  and  again,  until  the  mud-hen  was 
almost  dead — and  Maui  had  tried  tree  after  tree.  At 
last  Maui  found  fire.  Then  as  the  flames  rose  he  said : 
"There  is  one  more  thing  to  rub."  He  took  a  fire 
stick  and  rubbed  the  top  of  the  head  of  his  prisoner 
until  the  feathers  fell  ofif  and  the  raw  flesh  appeared. 
Thus  the  Hawaiian  mud-hen  and  her  descendants 
have  ever  since  had  bald  heads,  and  the  Hawaiians 
have  had  the  secret  of  fire  making. 

Another  Hawaiian  legend  places  the  scene  of 
Maui's  contest  with  the  mud-hens  a  little  inland  of 
the  town  of  Hilo  on  the  Island  of  Hawaii.  There  are 
three  small  extinct  craters  very  near  each  other  known 
as  The  Halae  Hills.  One,  the  southern  or  Puna  side 
of  the  hills,  is  a  place  called  Pohaku-nui.  Here  dwelt 
two  brother  birds  of  the  Alae  family.  They  were 
gods.  One  had  the  power  of  fire  making.  Here  at 
Pohaku-nui  they  were  accustomed  to  kindle  a  fire  and 
bake  their  dearly  loved  food — baked  bananas.  Here 
Maui  planned  to  learn  the  secret  of  fire.  The  birds 
had  kindled  the  fire  and  the  bananas  were  almost 
done,  when  the  elder  Alae  called  to  the  younger: 
"Be  quick,  here  conies  the  swift  son  of  Hina." 

The  birds  scratched  out  the  fire,  caught  the  bananas 
and  fled.  Maui  told  his  mother  he  would  follow  them 
until  he  learned  the  secret  of  fire.  His  mother  en- 
couraged him  because  he  was  very  strong  and  very 

64 


swift.  So  he  followed  the  birds  from  place  to  place 
as  they  fled  from  him,  finding  new  spots  on  which 
to  make  their  fires.  At  last  they  came  to  Waianae  on 
the  island  Oahu.  There  he  saw  a  great  fire  and  a 
multitude  of  birds  gathered  around  it,  chattering 
loudly  and  trying  to  hasten  the  baking  of  the  bananas. 
Their  incantation  was  this:  "Let  us  cook  quick." 
"Let  us  cook  quick."     "The  swift  child  of  Hina  will 


come." 


Maui's  mother  Hina  had  taught  him  how  to  know 
the  fire-maker.  "If  you  go  up  to  the  fire,  you  will 
find  many  birds.  Only  one  is  the  guardian.  This  is 
the  small,  young  Alae.  His  name  is  Alae-iki:  Only 
this  one  knows  how  to  make  fire."  So  whenever 
Maui  came  near  to  the  fire-makers  he  always  sought 
for  the  little  Alae.  Sometimies  he  made  mistakes  and 
sometimes  almost  captured  the  one  he  desired.  At 
Waianae  he  leaped  suddenly  among  the  birds.  They 
scattered  the  fire,  and  the  younger  bird  tried 
to  snatch  his  banana  from  the  coals  and  flee, 
but  Maui  seized  him  and  began  to  twist  his 
neck.  The  bird  cried  out,  warning  Maui  not  to 
kill  him  or  he  would  lose  the  secret  of  fire  altogether, 
Maui  was  told  that  the  fire  was  made  from  a  banana 
stump.  He  saw  the  bananas  roasting  and  thought 
this  was  reasonable.  So,  according  to  directions,  he 
began  to  rub  together  pieces  of  the  banana.  The  bird 
hoped  for  an  unguarded  moment  when  he  might  es- 

65 


cape,  but  Maui  was  very  watchful  and  was  also  very 
angry  when  he  found  that  rubbing  only  resulted  in 
squeezing  out  juice.  Then  he  twisted  the  neck  of  the 
bird  and  was  told  to  rub  the  stem  of  the  taro  plant. 
This  also  was  so  green  that  it  only  produced  water. 
Then  he  was  so  angry  that  he  nearly  rubbed  the  head 
of  the  bird  off — and  the  bird,  fearing  for  its  life,  told 
the  truth  and  taught  Maui  how  to  find  the  wood  in 
which  fire  dwelt. 

They  learned  to  draw  out  the  sparks  secreted  in 
different  kinds  of  trees.  The  sweet  sandalwood  was 
one  of  these  fire  trees.  Its  Hawaiian  name  is  'Tli-ahi" 
—the  "ili"  (bark)  and  "ahi"  (fire),  the  bark  in  which 
fire  is  concealed. 

A  legend  of  the  Society  Islands  is  somewhat  similar. 
Ina  (Hina)  promised  to  aid  Maui  in  finding  fire  for 
the  islanders.  She  sent  him  into  the  under-world  to 
find  Tangaroa  (Kanaloa).  This  god  Tangaroa  held 
fire  in  his  possession — Maui  was  to  know  him  by  his 
tattooed  face.  Down  the  dark  path  through  the  long 
caves  Maui  trod  swiftly  until  he  found  the  god.  Maui 
asked  him  for  fire  to  take  up  to  men.  The  god  gave 
him  a  lighted  stick  and  sent  him  away.  But  Maui 
put  the  fire  out  and  went  back  again  after  fire.  This 
he  did  several  times,  until  the  wearied  giver  decided 
to  teach  the  intruder  the  art  of  fire  making.  He  called 
a  white  duck  to  aid  him.  Then,  taking  two  sticks  of 
dry  wood,   he   gave   the   under  one   to  the   bird  and 

66 


rapidly  moved  the  upper  stick  across  the  under  until 
fire  came.  Maui  seized  the  upper  stick,  after  it  had 
been  charred  in  the  flame,  and  burned  the  head  of  the 
bird  back  of  each  eye.  Thus  were  made  the  black 
spots  which  mark  the  head  of  the  white  duck.  Then 
arose  a  quarrel  between  Tangaroa  and  Maui  —  but 
Maui  struck  down  the  god,  and,  thinking  he  had  killed 
him,  carried  away  the  art  of  making  fire.  His  father 
and  mother  made  inquiries  about  their  relative — Maui 
hastened  back  to  the  fire  fountain  and  made  the 
spirit  return  to  the  body — then,  coming  back  to  Ina, 
he  bade  her  good  bye  and  carried  the  fire  sticks  to 
the  upper-world.  The  Hawaiians,  and  probably  others 
among  the  Polynesians,  felt  that  any  state  of  uncon- 
sciousness was  a  form  of  death  in  which  the  spirit 
left  the  body,  but  was  called  back  by  prayers  and  in- 
cantations. Therefore,  when  Maui  restored  the  god 
to  consciousness,  he  was  supposed  to  have  made  the 
spirit  released  by  death  return  into  the  body  and 
bring  it  back  to  life. 

In  the  Samoan  legends  as  related  by  G.  Turner, 
the  name  Ti'iti'i  is  used.  This  is  the  same  as  the 
second  name  found  in  Maui  Ki'i-ki'i.  The  Samoan 
legend  of  Ti'iti'i  is  almost  identical  with  the  New 
Zealand  fire  myth  of  Maui,  and  is  very  similar  to  the 
story  coming  from  the  Hervey  Islands  from  Savage 
Island  and  also  from  the  Tokelau  and  other  island 
groups.     The   Samoan   story   says   that   the   home   of 

67 


Mafuie  the  earthquake  god  was  in  the  land  of  per- 
petual fire.  Maui's  or  Ti'iti'i's  father  Talanga  (Ka- 
lana)  was  also  a  resident  of  the  under-world  and  a 
great  friend  of  the  earthquake   god. 

Ti'iti'i  watched  his  father  as  he  left  his  home  in  the 
upper-world.  Talanga  approached  a  perpendicular 
wall  of  rock,  said  some  prayer  or  incantation — and 
passed  through  a  door  which  immediately  closed  after 
him.  (This  is  a  very  near  approach  to  the  "open 
sesame"  of  the  Arabian  Nights  stories.) 

Ti'iti'i  went  to  the  rock,  but  could  not  find  the  way 
through.  He  determined  to  conceal  himself  the  next 
time  so  near  that  he  could  hear  his  father's  words. 

After  some  days  he  was  able  to  catch  all  the  words 
uttered  by  his  father  as  he  knocked  on  the  stone 
door — 

"0  rock!    divide. 
I   am   Talanga, 
I   come   to   work 
On   my  land 
Given  by  Mafuie." 

Ti'iti'i  went  to  the  perpendicular  wall  and  imitating 
his  father's  voice  called  for  a  rock  to  open.  Down 
through  a  cave  he  passed  until  he  found  his  father 
working  in  the  under-world. 

The  astonished  father,  learning  how  his  son  came, 
bade  him  keep  very  quiet  and  work  lest  he  arouse  the 

68 


anger  of  Mafuie.  So  for  a  time  the  boy  labored 
obediently  by  his  father's  side. 

In  a  little  while  the  boy  saw  smoke  and  asked  what 
it  was.  The  father  told  him  that  it  was  the  smoke 
from  the  fire  of  Mafuie,  and  explained  what  fire 
would  do. 

The  boy  determined  to  get  some  fire — he  went  to 
the  place  from  which  the  smoke  arose  and  there  found 
the  god,  and  asked  him  for  fire.  Mafuie  gave  him  fire 
to  carry  to  his  father.  The  boy  quickly  had  an  oven 
prepared  and  the  fire  placed  in  it  to  cook  some  of  the 
taro  they  had  been  cultivating.  Just  as  everything 
was  ready  an  earthquake  god  came  up  and  blew  the 
fire  out  and  scattered  the  stones  of  the  oven. 

Then  Ti'iti'i  was  angry  and  began  to  talk  to  Ma- 
fuie. The  god  attacked  the  boy,  intending  to  punish 
him  severely  for  daring  to  rebel  against  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  fire. 

What  a  battle  there  was  for  a  time  in  the  under- 
world! At  last  Ti'iti'i  seized  one  of  the  arms  of  Ma- 
fuie and  broke  it  oflf.  He  caught  the  other  arm  and 
began  to  twist  and  bend  it. 

Mafuie  begged  the  boy  to  spare  him.  His  right  arm 
was  gone.  How  could  he  govern  the  earthquakes  if 
his  left  arm  were  torn  off  also?  It  was  his  duty  to 
hold  Samoa  level  and  not  permit  too  many  earth- 
quakes.    It  would  be  hard  to  do  that  even  with  one 


69 


arm — but  it  would  be  impossible  if  both  arms  were 
gone. 

Ti'iti'i  listened  to  the  plea  and  demanded  a  reward 
if  he  should  spare  the  left  arm.  Mafuie  offered  Ti'iti'i 
one  hundred  wives.     The  boy  did  not  want  them. 

Then  the  god  offered  to  teach  him  the  secret  of  fire 
finding  to  take  to  the  upper-world. 

The  boy  agreed  to  accept  the  fire  secret,  and  thus 
learned  that  the  gods  in  making  the  earth  had  con- 
cealed fire  in  various  trees  for  men  to  discover  in 
their  own  good  time,  and  that  this  fire  could  be 
brought  out  by  rubbing  pieces  of  wood  together. 

The  people  of  Samoa  have  not  had  much  faith  in 
Mafuie's  plea  that  he  needed  his  left  arm  in  order  to 
keep  Samoa  level.  They  say  that  Mafuie  has  a  long 
stick  or  handle  to  the  world  under  the  islands — and 
when  he  is  angry  or  wishes  to  frighten  them  he  moves 
this  handle  and  easily  shakes  the  islands.  When  an 
earthquake  comes,  they  give  thanks  to  Ti'iti'i  for 
breaking  off  one  arm — because  if  the  god  had  two 
arms  they  believe  he  would  shake  them  unmercifully. 
y  One  legend  of  the  Hervey  Islands  says  that  Maui 
and  his  brothers  had  been  living  on  uncooked  food — 
but  learned  that  their  mother  sometimies  had  delicious 
food  which  had  been  cooked.  They  learned  also  that 
fire  was  needed  in  order  to  cook  their  food.  Then 
Maui  wanted  fire  and  watched  his  mother. 

Maui's  mother  was  the  guardian  of  the  way  to  the 

70 


invisible  world.  When  she  desired  to  pass  from  her 
home  to  the  other  world,  she  would  open  a  black  rock 
and  pass  inside.  Thus  she  went  to  Hawaiki,  the 
under-world.  Maui  planned  to  follow  her,  but  first 
studied  the  forms  of  birds  that  he  might  assume  the 
body  of  the  strongest  and  most  enduring.  After  a 
time  he  took  the  shape  of  a  pigeon  and,  flying  to  the 
black  rock,  passed  through  the  door  and  flew  down 
the  long  dark  passage-way. 

After  a  time  he  found  the  god  of  fire  living  in  a 
bunch  of  banyan  sticks.  He  changed  himself  into  the 
form  of  a  man  and  demanded  the  secret  of  fire. 

The  fire  god  agreed  to  give  Maui  fire  if  he  would 
permit  himself  to  be  tossed  into  the  sky  by  the  god's 
strong  arms. 

Maui  agreed  on  condition  that  he  should  have  the 
right  to  toss  the  fire  god  afterwards. 

The  fire-god  felt  certain  that  there  would  be  only 
one  exercise  of  strength — he  felt  that  he  had  every- 
thing in  his  own  hands — so  readily  agreed  to  the  toss- 
ing contest.  It  was  his  intention  to  throw  his  oppo- 
nent so  high  that  when  he  fell,  if  he  ever  did  fall, 
there  would  be  no  antagonist  uncrushed. 

He  seized  Maui  in  his  strong  arms  and,  swinging 
him  back  and  forth,  flung  him  upward — but  the  mo- 
ment Maui  left  his  hands  he  changed  himself  into  a 
feather  and  floated  softly  to  the  ground. 

Then  the  boy  ran  swiftly  to  the  god  and  seized  him 

71 


by  the  legs  and  lifted  him  up.  Then  he  began  to  in- 
crease in  size  and  strength  until  he  had  lifted  the  fire 
god  very  high.  Suddenly  he  tossed  the  god  upward 
and  caught  him  as  he  fell — again  and  again — until 
the  bruised  and  dizzy  god  cried  enough,  and  agreed  to 
give  the  victor  whatever  he  demanded. 

Maui  asked  for  the  secret  of  fire  producing.  The 
god  taught  him  how  to  rub  the  dry  sticks  of  certain 
kinds  of  trees  together,  and,  by  friction,  produce  fire, 
and  especially  how  fire  could  be  produced  by  rubbing 
fire  sticks  in  the  fine  dust  of  the  banyan  tree.  / 

A  Society  Island  legend  says  Maui  borrowed  a  sa- 
cred red  pigeon,  belonging  to  one  of  the  gods,  and, 
changing  himself  into  a  dragon  fly,  rode  this  pigeon 
through  a  black  rock  into  Avaiki  (Hawaiki),  the  fire- 
land  of  the  under-world.  He  found  the  god  of  fire, 
Mau-ika,  living  in  a  house  built  from  a  banyan  tree. 
Mau-ika  taught  Maui  the  kinds  of  wood  into  which 
when  fire  went  out  on  the  earth  a  fire  goddess  had 
thrown  sparks  in  order  to  preserve  fire.  Among  these 
were  the  "au"  (Hawaiian  hau),  or  "the  lemon  hibis- 
cus"—the  "argenta,"  the  "fig"  and  the  "banyan."  She 
taught  him  also  how  to  make  fire  by  swift  motion 
when  rubbing  the  sticks  of  these  trees.  She  also  gave 
him  coals  for  his  present  need. 

But  Maui  was  viciously  mischievous  and  set  the 
banyan  house  on  fire,  then  mounted  his  pigeon  and 
fled  toward  the  upper-world.    But  the  flames  hastened 

72 


after  him  and  burst  out  through  the  rock  doors  into 
the  sunlit  land  above — as  if  it  were  a  volcanic  erup- 
tion. 

The  Tokelau  Islanders  say  that  Talanga  (Kalana) 
known  in  other  groups  of  islands  as  the  father  of 
Maui,  desired  fire  in  order  to  secure  warmth  and 
cooked  food.  He  went  down,  down,  very  far  down 
in  the  caves  of  the  earth.  In  the  lower  world  he  found 
Mafuika — an  old  blind  woman,  who  was  the  guardian 
of  fire.  He  told  her  he  wanted  fire  to  take  back  to 
men.  She  refused  either  to  give  fire  or  to  teach  how  to 
make  it.  Talanga  threatened  to  kill  her,  and  finally 
persuaded  her  to  teach  how  to  make  fire  in  any  place 
he  might  dwell — and  the  proper  trees  to  use,  the  fire- 
yielding  trees.  She  also  taught  him  how  to  cook  food 
— and  also  the  kind  of  fish  he  should  cook,  and  the 
kinds  which  should  be  eaten  raw.  Thus  mankind 
learned  about  food  as  well  as  fire. 

The  Savage  Island  legend  adds  the  element  of  dan- 
ger to  Maui's  mischievous  theft  of  fire.  The  lad  fol- 
lowed his  father  one  day  and  saw  him  pull  up  a  bunch 
of  reeds  and  go  down  into  the  fire-land  beneath.  Maui 
hastened  down  to  see  what  his  father  was  doing. 
Soon  he  saw  his  oportunity  to  steal  the  secret  of  fire. 
Then  he  caught  some  fire  and  started  for  the  upper- 
world. 

His  father  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  young  thief  and 
tried  to  stop  him. 

7Z 


Maui  ran  up  the  passage  through  the  black  cave — 
bushes  and  trees  bordered  his  road. 

The  father  hastened  after  his  son  and  was  almost 
ready  to  lay  hands  upon  him,  when  Maui  set  fire  to 
the  bushes.  The  flames  spread  rapidly,  catching  the 
underbrush  and  the  trees  on  all  sides  and  burst  out  in 
the  face  of  the  pursuer.  Destruction  threatened  the 
under-world,  but  Maui  sped  along  his  way.  Then  he 
saw  that  the  fire  was  chasing  himi.  Bush  after  bush 
leaped  into  flame  and  hurled  sparks  and  smoke  and 
burning  air  after  him.  Choked  and  smoke-surrounded, 
he  broke  through  the  door  of  the  cavern  and  found 
the  fresh  air  of  the  world.  But  the  flames  followed 
him  and  swept  out  in  great  power  upon  the  upper- 
world  a  mighty  volcanic  eruption. 

The  New  Zealand  legends  picture  Maui  as  putting 
out,  in  one  night,  all  the  fires  of  his  people.  This 
was  serious  mischief,  and  Maui's  mother  decided  that 
he  should  go  to  the  under-world  and  see  his  ancestress, 
JVIahuika,  the  guardian  of  fire,  and  get  new  fire  to  re- 
pair the  injury  he  had  wrought.  She  warned  him 
against  attempting  to  play  tricks  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  the  lower  regions. 

Maui  gladly  hastened  down  the  cave-path  to  the 
house  of  Mahuika,  and  asked  for  fire  for  the  upper- 
world.  In  some  way  he  pleased  her  so  that  she  pulled 
off  a  finger  nail  in  which  fire  was  burning  and  gave 
it  to  him.     As  soon  as  he  had  gone  back  to  a  place 

74 


Hawaiian  Vines  and  Bushes 


where  there  was  water,  he  put  the  fire  out  and  re- 
turned to  Mahuika,  asking  another  gift,  which  he  de- 
stroyed. This  he  did  for  both  hands  and  feet  until 
only  one  nail  remained.  Maui  wanted  this.  Then 
Mahuika  became  angry  and  threw  the  last  finger  nail 
on  the  ground.  Fire  poured  out  and  laid  hold  of 
everything.  Maui  ran  up  the  path  to  the  upper-world, 
but  the  fire  was  swifter-footed.  Then  Maui  changed 
himself  into  an  eagle  and  flew  high  up  into  the  air, 
but  the  fire  and  smoke  still  followed  him.  Then  he 
saw  water  and  dashed  into  it,  but  it  was  too  hot. 
Around  him  the  forests  were  blazing,  the  earth  burn- 
ing and  the  sea  boiling.  Maui,  about  to  perish,  called 
on  the  gods  for  rain.  Then  floods  of  water  fell  and 
the  fire  was  checked.  The  great  rain  fell  on  Mahuika 
&nd  she  fled,  almost  drowned.  Her  stores  of  fire  were 
destroyed,  quenched  by  the  storm.  But  in  order  to 
save  fire  for  the  use  of  men,  as  she  fled  she  threw 
sparks  into  different  kinds  of  trees  where  the  rain 
could  not  reach  them',  so  that  when  fire  was  needed 
it  might  be  brought  into  the  world  again  by  rubbing 
together  the  fire  sticks. 

The  Chatham  Islanders  give  the  following  incanta- 
tion, which  they  said  was  used  by  Maui  against  the 
fierce  flood  of  fire  which  was  pursuing  him : 


75 


"To  the  roaring  thunder; 

To   the  great   rain — the   long   rain; 
To  the  drizzling  rain — the  small  rain; 
To  the  rain  pattering  on  the  leaves. 
These  are  the  storms — the  storms 
Cause  them  to  fall; 
To  pour  in   torrents." 

The  legend  of  Savage  Island  places  Maui  in  the 
role  of  fire-maker.  He  has  stolen  fire  in  the  under- 
world. His  father  tries  to  catch  him,  but  Maui  sets 
fire  to  the  bushes  by  the  path  until  a  great  conflagra- 
tion is  raging  which  pursues  him  to  the  upper-world. 

Some  legends  make  Maui  the  fire-teacher  as  well 
as  the  fire-finder.  He  teaches  men  how  to  use  hard- 
wood sticks  in  the  fine  dry  dust  on  the  bark  of  cer- 
tain trees,  or  how  to  use  the  fine  fibre  of  the  palm 
tree  to  catch  sparks. 

In  Tahiti  the  fire  god  lived  in  the  "Hale-a-o-a,"  or 
House  of  the  Banyan.  Sometimes  human  sacrifices 
were  placed  upon  the  sacred  branches  of  this  tree  of 
the  fire  god. 

In  the  Bowditch  or  Fakaofa  Islands  the  goddess  of 
fire  when  conquered  taught  not  only  the  method  of 
making  lire  by  friction  but  also  what  fish  were  to  be 
cooked  and  what  were  to  be  eaten  raw. 

Thus  som-e  of  the  myths  of  Maui,  the  mischievous, 
finding  fire  are  told  by  the  side  of  the  inroUing  surf, 


7^ 


while  natives  of  many  islands,  around  their  poi  bowls, 
rest  in  the  shade  of  the  far-reaching  boughs  and 
thick  foliage  of  the  banyan  and  other  fire-producing 
trees. 


77 


VI. 
MAUI  THE  SKILLFUL. 

ACCORDING  to  the  New  Zealand  legends  there 
were  six  Mauis — the  Hawaiians  counted  four. 
They  were  a  band  of  brothers.  The  older  five 
were  known  as  "the  forgetful  Mauis."  The  tricky 
and  quick-witted  youngest  member  of  the  family  was 
called  Maui  te  atamai— "Maui  the  skillful." 

He  was  curiously  accounted  for  in  the  New  Zealand 
under-world.  When  he  went  down  through  the  long 
cave  to  his  ancestor's  home  to  find  fire,  he  was  soon 
talked  about.  "Perhaps  this  is  the  man  about  whom 
so  much  is  said  in  the  upper-world."  His  ancestress 
from  whom  he  obtained  fire  recognized  him  as  the 
man  called  "the  deceitful  Maui."  Even  his  parents 
told  him  once,  "We  know  you  are  a  tricky  fellow — 
more  so  than  any  other  man."  One  of  the  New  Zea- 
land fire  legends  while  recording  his  flight  to  the 
under-world  and  his  appearance  as  a  bird,  says :  "The 
men  tried  to  spear  him,  and  to  catch  him  in  nets.    At 

78 


last  they  cried  out,  'Maybe  you  are  the  man  whose 
fame  is  great  in  the  upper-world.'  At  once  he  leaped 
to  the  ground  and  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  man." 

He  was  not  famous  for  inventions,  but  he  was  al- 
ways ready  to  improve  upon  anything  which  was  al- 
ready in  existence.  He  could  take  the  sun  in  hand 
and  make  it  do  better  work.  He  could  tie  the  moon 
so  that  it  had  to  swim  back  around  the  island  to  the 
place  in  the  ocean  from  which  it  might  rise  again,  and 
go  slowly  through  the  night. 

His  brothers  invented  a  slender,  straight  and  smooth 
spear  with  which  to  kill  birds.  He  saw  the  fluttering, 
struggling  birds  twist  themselves  off  the  smooth  point 
and  escape.  He  made  a  good  light  bird  spear  and  put 
notches  in  it  and  kept  most  of  the  birds  stuck.  His 
brothers  finally  examined  his  spear  and  learned  the 
reason  for  its  superiority.  In  the  same  way  they 
learned  how  to  spear  fish.  They  could  strike  and 
wound  and  somietimes  kill — but  they  could  not  with 
their  smooth  spears  draw  the  fish  from  the  waters  of 
the  coral  caves.  But  Maui  the  youngest  made  barbs, 
so  that  the  fish  could  not  easily  shake  themselves 
loose.    The  others  soon  made  their  spears  like  his. 

The  brothers  were  said  to  have  invented  baskets  in 
which  to  trap  eels,  but  many  eels  escaped.  Maui  im- 
proved the  basket  by  secretly  making  an  inside  parti- 
tion as  well  as  a  cover,  and  the  eels  were  securely 
trapped.     It  took  the  brothers  a  long  time  to  learn 

79 


the  real  difference  between  their  baskets  and  his.  One 
of  the  family  made  a  basket  like  his  and  caught  many 
eels.  Then  Maui  became  angry  and  chanted  a  curse 
over  him  and  bewildered  him,  then  changed  him  into 
a  dog. 

The  Manahiki  Islanders  have  the  legend  that  Maui 
made  the  moon,  but  could  not  get  good  light  from  it. 
He  tried  experiments  and  found  that  the  sun  was  quite 
an  improvem-ent.  The  sun's  example  stimulated  the 
moon  to  shine  brighter. 

Once  Maui  became  interested  in  tattooing  and  tried 
to  make  a  dog  look  better  by  placing  dark  lines 
around  the  mouth.  The  legends  say  that  one  of  the 
sacred  birds  saw  the  pattern  and  then  marked  the  sky 
with  the  red  lines  sometimes  seen  at  sunrise  and  sun- 
set. An  Hawaiian  legend  says  that  Maui  tattooed  his 
arm  with  a  sacred  name  and  thus  that  arm  was  strong 
enough  to  hold  the  sun  when  he  lassoed  it.  There  is 
a  New  Zealand  legend  in  which  Maui  is  made  one  of 
three  gods  who  first  created  man  and  then  woman  from 
one  of  the  man's  ribs. 

The  Hawaiians  dwelling  in  Hilo  have  many  stories 
of  Maui.  They  say  that  his  home  was  on  the  north- 
ern bank  of  the  Wailuku  River.  He  had  a  strong 
staff  made  fromi  an  ohia  tree  (the  native  apple  tree). 
With  this  he  punched  holes  through  the  lava,  making 
natural  bridges  and  boiling  pools,  and  new  channels 
for  its  sometimes  obstructed  waters,  so  that  the  people 

80 


could  go  up  or  down  the  river  more  easily.  Near  one 
of  the  natural  bridges  is  a  figure  of  the  moon  carved 
in  the  rocks,  referred  by  some  of  the  natives  to  Maui. 

Maui  is  said  to  have  taught  his  brothers  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  fish  nets  and  the  use  of  the  strong  fibre 
of  the  olona,  which  was  much  better  than  cocoanut 
threads. 

The  New  Zealand  stories  relate  the  spear-throwing 
contests  of  Maui  and  his  brothers.  As  children,  how- 
ever, they  were  not  allowed  the  use  of  wooden  spears. 
They  took  the  stems  of  long,  heavy  reeds  and  threw 
them  at  each  other,  but  Maui's  reeds  were  charmed 
into  stronger  and  harder  fibre  so  that  he  broke  his 
mother's  house  and  made  her  recognize  him  as  one 
of  her  children.  He  had  been  taken  away  as  soon 
as  he  was  born  by  the  gods  to  whom  he  was  related. 
When  he  found  his  way  back  home  his  mother  paid 
no  attention  to  him.  Thus  by  a  spear  thrust  he  won  a 
homie. 

The  brothers  all  made  fish  hooks,  but  Maui  the 
youngest  made  two  kinds  of  hooks  —  one  like  his 
brothers'  and  one  with  a  sharp  barb.  His  brothers' 
hooks  were  smooth  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  keep 
the  fish  from  floundering  and  shaking  themselves  ofif, 
but  they  noticed  that  the  fish  were  held  by  Maui's 
hook  better  than  by  theirs.  Maui  was  not  inclined  to 
devote  himself  to  hard  work,  and  lived  on  his  brothers 
as   much   as   possible — but  when   driven   out   by   his 

81 


wife  or  his  mother  he  would  catch  more  fish  than  the 
other  fishermen.  They  tried  to  examine  his  hooks, 
but  he  always  changed  his  hooks  so  that  they  could 
not  see  any  difference  between  his  and  theirs.  At 
such  times  they  called  him  the  mischievous  one  and 
tried  to  leave  him  behind  while  they  went  fishing. 
They  were,  however,  always  ready  to  give  him  credit 
for  his  improvements.  They  dealt  generously  with 
him  when  they  learned  what  he  had  really  accomi- 
plished.  When  they  caught  him  with  his  barbed  hook 
they  forgot  the  past  and  called  him  "ke  atamai" — the 
skillful. 

The  idea  that  fish  hooks  made  from  the  jawbones 
of  human  beings  were  better  than  others,  seemed  to 
have  arisen  at  first  from  the  angle  formed  in  the  lower 
jawbone.  Later  these  human  fish  hooks  were  con- 
sidered sacred  and  therefore  possessed  of  magic 
powers.  The  greater  sanctity  and  power  belonged  to 
the  bones  which  bore  more  especial  relation  to  the 
owner.  Therefore  Maui's  "magic  hook,"  with  which 
he  fished  up  islands,  was  made  from  the  jawbone  of 
his  ancestress  Mahuika.  It  is  also  said  that  in  order 
to  have  powerful  hooks  for  every-day  fishing  he  killed 
two  of  his  children.  Their  right  eyes  he  threw  up 
into  the  sky  to  become  stars.  One  became  the  morn- 
ing and  the  other  the  evening  star. 

The  idea  that  the  death  of  any  members  of 
the  family  must  not  stand  in  the  way  of  obtaining 

82 


magical  power,  has  prevailed  throughout   Polynesia. 

From  this  angle  in  the  jawbone  Maui  must  have 
conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  hook  with  a  piece  of 
bone  or  shell  which  should  be  fastened  to  the  large 
bone  at  a  very  sharp  angle,  thus  making  a  kind  of 
barb.  Hooks  like  this  have  been  made  for  ages  among 
the  Polynesians. 

Maui  and  his  brothers  went  fishing  for  eels  with 
bait  strung  on  the  flexible  rib  of  a  cocoanut  leaf.  The 
stupid  brothers  did  not  fasten  the  ends  of  the  string. 
Therefore  the  eels  easily  slipped  the  bait  off  and  es- 
caped. But  Maui  made  the  ends  of  his  string  fast, 
and  captured  many  eels. 

The  little  things  which  others  did  not  think  about 
were  the  foundation  of  Maui's  fame.  Upon  these  little 
things  he  built  his  courage  to  snare  the  sun  and  seek 
fire  for  mankind. 

In  a  New  Zealand  legend,  quoted  by  Edward  Tre- 
gear,  Maui  is  called  Maui-maka-walu,  or  "Maui  with 
eyes  eight."  This  eight-eyed  Maui  would  be  allied  to 
the  Hindoo  deities  who  with  their  eight  eyes  face  the 
four  quarters  of  the  world — thus  possessing  both  in- 
sight into  the  affairs  of  men  and  foresight  into  the 
future. 

Fornander,  the  Hawaiian  ethnologist,  says :  "In 
Hawaiian  mythology,  Kamapuaa,  the  demigod  oppo- 
nent of  the  goddess  Pele,  is  described  as  having  eight 
eyes  and  eight  feet;  and  in  the  legends  Maka-walu, 

83 


'eight-eyed,'  is  a  frequent  epithet  of  gods  and  chiefs." 
He  notes  this  coincidence  with  the  appearance  of  some 
of  the  principal  Hindoo  deities  as  having  some  bear- 
ing upon  the  origin  of  the  Polynesians.  It  may  be 
that  a  comparative  study  of  the  legends  of  other 
islands  of  the  Pacific  by  some  student  will  open  up 
other  new  and  important  facts. 

In  Tahiti,  on  the  island  Raiatea,  a  high  priest  or 
prophet  lived  in  the  long,  long  ago.  He  was  known 
as  Maui  the  prophet  of  Tahiti.  He  was  probably  not 
Maui  the  demigod.  Nevertheless  he  was  represented 
as  possessing  very  strange  prophetical  powers. 

According  to  the  historian  Ellis,  who  previous  to 
1830  spent  eight  years  in  the  Society  and  Hawaiian 
Islands,  this  prophet  Maui  clearly  prophesied  the 
coming  of  an  outriggerless  canoe  from  some  foreign 
land.  An  outrigger  is  a  log  which  so  balances  a 
canoe  that  it  can  ride  safely  through  the  treacherous 
surf. 

The  chiefs  and  prophets  charged  him  with  stating 
the  impossible. 

He  took  his  wooden  calabash  and  placed  it  in  a 
pool  of  water  as  an  illustration  of  the  way  such  a 
boat  should  float. 

Then  with  the  floating  bowl  before  him  he  uttered 
the  second  prophecy,  that  boats  without  line  to  tie  the 
sails  to  the  masts,  or  the  masts  to  the  ships,  should 
also  come  to  Tahiti. 

84 


Hawaiian  Bathing  Pool. 


When  English  ships  under  Captain  Wallis  and  Cap- 
tain Cook,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
visited  these  islands,  the  natives  cried  out,  "O  the 
canoes  of  Maui — the  outriggerless  canoes." 

Passenger  steamships,  and  the  men-of-war  from  the 
great  nations,  have  taught  the  Tahitians  that  boats 
without  sails  and  masts  can  cross  the  great  ocean, 
and  again  they  have  recurred  to  the  words  of  the 
prophet  Maui,  and  have  exclaimed,  "O  the  boats  with- 
out sails  and  masts."  This  rather  remarkable  prophecy 
could  easily  have  occurred  to  Maui  as  he  saw  a 
wooden  calabash  floating  over  rough  waters. 

Maui's  improvement  upon  nature's  plan  in  regard 
to  certain  birds  is  also  given  in  the  legends  as  a  proof 
of  his  supernatural  powers. 

White  relates  the  story  as  follows :  "Maui  re- 
quested some  birds  to  go  and  fetch  water  for  him.  The 
first  one  would  not  obey,  so  he  threw  it  into  the  water. 
He  requested  another  bird  to  go — and  it  refused,  so 
he  threw  it  into  the  fire,  and  its  feathers  were  burnt. 
But  the  next  bird  obeyed,  but  could  not  carry  the 
water,  and  he  rewarded  it  by  making  the  feathers  of 
the  fore  part  of  its  head  white.  Then  he  asked  an- 
other bird  to  go,  and  it  filled  its  ears  with  water  and 
brought  it  to  Maui,  who  drank,  and  then  pulled  the 
bird's  legs  and  made  them  long  in  payment  for  its 
act  of  kindness." 

Dififenbach  says:     "Maui,  the  Adam  of  New  Zea- 

85 


land,  left  the  cat's  cradle  to  the  New  Zealanders  as 
an  inheritance."  The  name  "Whai"  was  given  to  the 
game.  It  exhibited  the  various  steps  of  creation  ac- 
cording to  Maori  mythology.  Every  change  in  the 
cradle  shows  some  act  in  creation.  Its  various  stages 
were  called  "houses."  Diffenbach  says  again:  "In 
this  game  of  Maui  they  are  great  proficients.  It  is 
a  game  like  that  called  cat's  cradle  in  Europe.  It  is 
intimately  connected  with  their  ancient  traditions  and 
in  the  different  figures  which  the  cord  is  made  to  as- 
sume whilst  held  on  both  hands,  the  outline  of  their 
different  varieties  of  houses,  canoes  or  figures  of  men 
and  women  are  imagined  to  be  represented."  One 
writer  connects  this  game  with  witchcraft,  and  says 
it  was  brought  fromi  the  under-world.  Some  parts  of 
the  puzzle  show  the  adventures  of  Maui,  especially 
his  attempt  to  win  immortality  for  men. 

In  New  Zealand  it  was  said  Maui  found  a  large,  fine- 
grained stone  block,  broke  it  in  pieces,  and  from  the 
fragments  learned  how  to  fashion  stone  implements. 

White  also  tells  the  New  Zealand  legend  of  Maui 
and  the  winds. 

"Maui  caught  and  held  all  the  winds  save  the  west 
wind.  He  put  each  wind  into  a  cave,  so  that  it  might 
not  blow.  He  sought  in  vain  for  the  west  wind,  but 
could  not  find  from  whence  it  came.  If  he  had  found 
the  cave  in  which  it  stayed  he  would  have  closed  the 
entrance  to  that  cave  with  rocks.       When  the  west 

86 


wind  blows  lightly  it  is  because  Maui  has  got  near  to 
it,  and  has  nearly  caught  it,  and  it  has  gone  into  its 
home,  the  cave,  to  escape  him.  When  the  winds  of 
the  south,  east,  and  north  blow  furiously  it  is  because 
the  rocks  have  been  removed  by  the  stupid  people 
who  could  not  learn  the  lessons  taught  by  Maui.  At 
other  times  Maui  allows  these  winds  to  blow  in  hur- 
ricanes to  punish  that  people,  and  also  that  he  may 
ride  on  these  furious  winds  in  search  of  the  west 
wind." 

In  the  Hawaiian  legends  Maui  is  represented  as 
greatly  interested  in  making  and  flying  kites.  His 
favorite  place  for  the  sport  was  by  the  boiling  pools 
of  the  Wailuku  river  near  Hilo.  He  had  the  winds 
under  his  control  and  would  call  for  them  to  push  his 
kites  in  the  direction  he  wished.  His  incantation 
calling  up  the  winds  is  given  in  this  Maui  proverb — 

"Strong  wiii,d   come. 
Soft   wind   come." 

White  in  his  "Ancient  History  of  the  Maoris,"  re- 
lates som'C  of  Maui's  experiences  with  the  people 
whom  he  found  on  the  islands  brought  up  from  the 
under-world.  On  one  island  he  found  a  sand  house 
with  eight  hundred  gods  living  in  it.  Apparently 
Maui  discovered  islands  with  inhabitants,  and  was 
reported  to  have  fished  them  up  out  of  the  depths  of 

87 


the  ocean.     Fishing  was  sailing  over  the  ocean  until 
distant  lands  were  drawn  near  or  "fished  up." 

Maui  walked  over  the  islands  and  found  men  living 
on  them  and  fires  burning  near  their  homes.  He  evi- 
dently did  not  know  much  about  fire,  for  he  took  it  in 
his  hands.  He  was  badly  burned  and  rushed  into  the 
sea.  Down  he  dived  under  the  cooling  waters  and 
came  up  with  one  of  the  New  Zealand  islands  on  his 
shoulders.  But  his  hands  were  still  burning,  so 
wherever  he  held  the  island  it  was  set  on  fire. 

These  fires  are  still  burning  in  the  secret  recesses 
of  the  volcanoes,  and  sometimes  burst  out  in  flowing 
lava.  Then  Maui  paid  attention  to  the  people  whom 
he  had  fished  up.  He  tried  to  teach  them,  but  they 
did  not  learn  as  he  thought  they  should.  He  quickly 
became  angry  and  said,  "It  is  a  waste  of  light  for  the 
sun  to  shine  on  such  stupid  people."  So  he  tried  to 
hold  his  hands  between  them  and  the  sun,  but  the 
rays  of  the  sun  were  too  many  and  too  strong;  there- 
fore, he  could  not  shut  them  out.  Then  he  tried  the 
moon  and  managed  to  make  it  dark  a  part  of  the  time 
each  month.  In  this  way  he  made  a  little  trouble  for 
the  stupid  people. 

There  are  other  hints  in  the  legends  concerning 
Maui's  desire  to  be  revenged  upon  any  one  who  in- 
curred his  displeasure.  It  was  said  that  Maui  for  a 
time  lived  in  the  heavens  above  the  earth.     Here  he 

88 


had  a  foster  brother  Maru.  The  two  were  cultivating 
the  fields.  Maru  sent  a  snowstorm  over  Maui's  field. 
(It  would  seem  as  if  this  might  be  a  Polynesian  mem- 
ory of  a  cold  land  where  their  ancestors  knew  the 
cold  winter,  or  a  lesson  learned  from  the  snow-caps 
of  high  mountains.)  At  any  rate,  the  snow  blighted 
Maui's  crops.  Maui  retaliated  by  praying  for  rain 
to  destroy  Maru's  fields.  But  Maru  managed  to  save 
a  part  of  his  crops.  Other  legends  make  Maui  the 
aggressor.  At  the  last,  however,  Maui  became  very 
angry.  The  foster  parents  tried  to  soothe  the  two  men 
by  saying,  "Live  in  peace  with  each  other  and  do  not 
destroy  each  other's  food."  But  Maui  was  implacable 
and  lay  in  wait  for  his  foster  brother,  who  was  in  the 
habit  of  carrying  fruit  and  grass  as  an  ofifering  to 
the  gods  of  a  temple  situated  on  the  summit  of  a  hill. 
Here  Maui  killed  Maru  and  then  went  away  to  the 
earth. 

This  legend  is  told  by  three  or  four  dififerent  tribes 
of  New  Zealand  and  is  very  similar  to  the  Hebrew 
story  of  Cain  and  Abel.  At  this  late  day  it  is  difficult 
to  say  definitely  whether  or  not  it  owes  its  origin  to 
the  early  touch  of  Christianity  upon  New  Zealand 
when  white  men  first  began  to  live  with  the  natives. 
It  is  somewhat  similar  to  stories  found  in  the  Tonga 
Islands  and  also  in  the  Hawaiian  group,  where  a  son 
of  the  first  gods,  or  rather  of  the  first  men,  kills  a 
brother.    In  each  case  there  is  the  shadow  of  the  Bib- 

89 


lical  idea.  It  seems  safe  to  infer  that  such  legends  are 
not  entirely  drawn  from  contact  with  Christian  civili- 
zation. The  natives  claim  that  these  stories  are  very- 
ancient,  and  that  their  fathers  knew  them  before  the 
white  men  sailed  on  the  Pacific. 


90 


m 


VII. 
MAUI  AND  TUNA. 

'HEN  Maui  returned  from  the  voyages  in  which 
he  discovered  or  "fished  up"  from  the  ocean 
depths  new  islands,  he  gave  deep  thought  to 
the  things  he  had  found.  As  the  islands  appeared  to 
come  out  of  the  water  he  saw  they  were  inhabited. 
There  were  houses  and  stages  for  drying  and  preserv- 
ing food.  He  was  greeted  by  barking  dogs.  Fires 
were  burning,  food  cooking  and  people  working.  He 
evidently  had  gone  so  far  away  from  home  that  a 
strange  people  was  found.  The  legend  which  speaks 
of  the  death  of  his  brothers,  "eaten"  by  the  great 
fish  drawn  up  from  the  floor  of  the  sea,  may  very 
easily  mean  that  the  new  people  killed  and  ate  the 
brothers. 

Maui  apparently  learned  som^e  new  lessons,  for  on 
his  return  he  quickly  established  a  home  of  his  own, 
and  determined  to  live  after  the  fashion  of  the  families 
in  the  new  islands. 

Maui     sought     Hina-a-te-lepo,     "daughter     of     the 

91 


swamp,"  and  secured  her  as  his  wife.  The  New  Zea- 
land tribes  tell  legends  which  vary  in  different  locali- 
ties about  this  woman  Hina.  She  sometimes  bore  the 
name  Rau-kura — "The  red  plume." 

She  cared  for  his  thatched  house  as  any  other  Poly- 
nesian woman  was  in  the  habit  of  doing.  She  at- 
tempted the  hurried  task  of  cooking  his  food  before 
he  snared  the  sun  and  gave  her  sufficient  daylight  for 
her  labors. 

They  lived  near  the  bank  of  a  river  from  which 
Hina  was  in  the  habit  of  bringing  water  for  the  house- 
hold needs. 

One  day  she  went  down  to  the  stream  with  her  cala- 
bash. She  was  entwined  with  wreaths  of  leaves  and 
flowers,  as  was  the  custom  among  Polynesian  women. 
While  she  was  standing  on  the  bank,  Tuna-roa,  "the 
long  eel,"  saw  her.  He  swam  up  to  the  bank  and 
suddenly  struck  her  and  knocked  her  into  the  water 
and  covered  her  with  slime  from  the  blow  given  by 
his  tail. 

Hina  escaped  and  returned  to  her  homie,  saying 
nothing  to  Maui  about  the  trouble.  But  the  next  day, 
while  getting  water,  she  was  again  overthrown  and 
befouled  by  the  slime  of  Tuna-roa. 

Then  Hina  became  angry  and  reported  the  trouble 
to  Maui. 

Maui  decided  to  punish  the  long  eel  and  started  out 
to  find  his  hiding  place.     Som^e  of  the  New  Zealand 

92 


legends  as  collected  by  White,  state  that  Tuna-roa 
was  a  very  smooth  skinned  chief,  who  lived  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  stream,  and,  seeing  Hina,  had  in- 
sulted her. 

When  Maui  saw  this  chief,  he  caught  two  pieces  of 
wood  over  which  he  was  accustomed  to  slide  his 
canoe  into  the  sea.  These  he  carried  to  the  stream 
and  laid  them  from  bank  to  bank  as  a  bridge  over 
which  he  might  entice  Tuna-roa  to  cross. 

Maui  took  his  stone  axe,  Ma-Tori-Tori,  "the 
severer,"  and  concealed  himself  near  the  bank  of  the 
river. 

When  "the  long  eel"  had  crossed  the  stream,  Maui 
rushed  out  and  killed  him  with  a  mighty  blow  of  the 
stone  axe,  cutting  the  head  from  the  body. 

Other  legends  say  that  Maui  found  Tuna-roa  living 
as  an  eel  in  a  deep  water  hole,  in  a  swamp  on  the  sea- 
coast  of  Tata-a,  part  of  the  island  Ao-tea-roa.  Other 
stories  located  Tuna-roa  in  the  river  near  Maui's 
home. 

Maui  saw  that  he  could  not  get  at  his  enemy  with- 
out letting  ofif  the  water  which  protected  him. 

Therefore  into  the  forest  went  Maui,  and  with  sa- 
cred ceremonies,  selected  trees  from  the  wood  of 
which  he  prepared  tools  and  weapons. 

Meanwhile,  in  addition  to  the  insult  given  to  Hina, 
Tuna-roa   had   caught   and   devoured   two   of   Maui's 

93 


children,  which  made  Maui  more  determined  to  kill 
him. 

Maui  made  the  narrow  spade  (named  by  the  Maoris 
of  New  Zealand  the  "ko,"  and  by  the  Hawaiians 
"o-o")  and  the  sharp  spears,  with  which  to  pierce 
either  the  earth  or  his  enemy.  These  spears  and 
spades  were  consecrated  to  the  work  of  preparing  a 
ditch  by  which  to  draw  off  the  water  protectmg  "the 
long  eel." 

The  work  of  trench-making  was  accomplished  with 
many  incantations  and  prayers.  The  ditch  was  named 
"The  sacred  digging,"  and  was  tabooed  to  all  other 
purposes  except  that  of  catching  Tuna-roa, 

Across  this  ditch  Maui  stretched  a  strong  net,  and 
then  began  a  new  series  of  chants  and  ceremonies  to 
bring  down  an  abundance  of  rain.  Soon  the  flood 
came  and  the  overflowing  waters  rushed  down  the 
sacred  ditch.  The  walls  of  the  deep  pool  gave  way 
and  "the  long  eel"  was  carried  down  the  trench 
into  the  waiting  net.  Then  there  was  commotion. 
Tuna-roa  was  struggling  for  freedom. 

Maui  saw  him  and  hastened  to  grasp  his  stone  axe, 
"the  severer."  Hurrying  to  the  net,  he  struck  Tuna- 
roa  a  terrible  blow,  and  cut  ofif  the  head.  With  a  few 
more  blows,  he  cut  the  body  in  pieces.  The  head  and 
tail  were  carried  out  into  the  sea.  The  head  became 
fish  and  the  tail  became  the  great  conger-eel.  Other 
parts  of  the  body  became  sea  monsters.     But  some 

94 


parts  which  fell  in  fresh  water  became  the  common 
eels.  From  the  hairs  of  the  head  came  certain  vines 
and  creepers  among  the  plants. 

After  the  death  of  Tuna-roa  the  offspring  of  Maui 
were  in  no  danger  of  being  killed  and  soon  multiplied 
into  a  large  family. 

Another  New  Zealand  legend  related  by  White  says 
that  Maui  built  a  sliding  place  of  logs,  over  which 
Tuna-roa  must  pass  when  coming  from  the  river. 

Maui  also  made  a  screen  behind  which  he  could  se- 
crete himself  while  watching  for  Tuna-roa. 

He  commanded  Hina  to  come  down  to  the  river  and 
wait  on  the  bank  to  attract  Tuna-roa.  Soon  the  long 
eel  was  seen  in  the  water  swimming  near  to  Hina. 
Hina  went  to  a  place  back  of  the  logs  which  Maui 
had  laid  down. 

Tuna-roa  came  towards  her,  and  began  to  slide 
down  the  skids. 

Maui  sprang  out  from  his  hiding  place  and  killed 
Tuna-roa  with  his  axe,  and  cut  him  in  pieces. 

The  tail  became  the  conger-eel.  Parts  of  his  body 
became  fresh-water  eels.  Some  of  the  blood  fell  upon 
birds  and  always  after  marked  them  with  red  spots. 
Some  of  the  blood  was  thrown  into  certain  trees, 
making  this  wood  always  red.  The  muscles  became 
vines  and  creepers. 

From  this  time  the  children  of  Maui  caught  and  ate 
the  eels  of  both  salt  and  fresh  water.     Eel  traps  were 

95 


made,  and  Maui  taught  the  people  the  proper  chants 
or  incantations  to  use  when  catching  eels. 

This  legend  of  Maui  and  the  long  eel  was  found  by 
White  in  a  number  of  forms  among  the  different  tribes 
of  New  Zealand,  but  does  not  seem  to  have  had  cur- 
rency in  many  other  island  groups. 

In  Turner's  "Samoa"  a  legend  is  related  which  was 
probably  derived  from  the  Maui  stories  and  yet  differs 
in  its  romantic  results.  The  Samoans  say  that  among 
their  ancient  ones  dwelt  a  woman  named  Sina.  Sina 
among  the  Polynesians  is  the  same  as  Hina — the  "h" 
is  softened  into  "s".  She  captured  a  small  eel  and 
kept  it  as  a  pet.  It  grew  large  and  strong  and  finally 
attacked  and  bit  her.  She  fled,  but  the  eel  followed  her 
everywhere.  Her  father  came  to  her  assistance  and 
raised  high  mountains  between  the  eel  and  herself. 
But  the  eel  passed  over  the  barrier  and  pursued  her. 
Her  mother  raised  a  new  series  of  mountains.  But 
again  the  eel  surmounted  the  difficulties  and  attempt- 
ed to  seize  Sina.  She  broke  away  from  him  and  ran 
on  and  on.  Finally  she  wearily  passed  through  a  vil- 
lage. The  people  asked  her  to  stay  and  eat  with 
them,  but  she  said  they  could  only  help  her  by  deliv- 
ering her  from  the  pursuing  eel.  The  inhabitants  of 
that  village  were  afraid  of  the  eel  and  refused  to  fight 
for  her.  So  she  ran  on  to  another  place.  Here  the 
chief  offered  her  a  drink  of  water  and  promised  to 
kill  the  eel  for  her.    He  prepared  awa,  a  stupefying 

96 


A  Coconut  Grove   in  Kona. 


drink,  and  put  poison  in  it.  When  the  eel  came  along 
the  chief  asked  him  to  drink.  He  took  the  awa  and 
prepared  to  follow  Sina.  When  he  came  to  the  place 
where  she  was  the  pains  of  death  had  already  seized 
him.  While  dying  he  begged  her  to  bury  his  head  by 
her  home.  This  she  did,  and  in  time  a  plant  new  to 
the  islands  sprang  up.  It  became  a  tree,  and  finally 
produced  a  cocoanut,  whose  two  eyes  could  continu- 
ally look  into  the  face  of  Sina. 

Tuna,  in  the  legends  of  Fiji,  was  a  demon  of  the 
sea.  He  lived  in  a  deep  sea  cave,  into  which  he  some- 
times shut  himself  behind  closed  doors  of  coral.  When 
he  was  hungry,  he  swam  through  the  ocean  shadows, 
always  watching  the  restless  surface.  When  a  canoe 
passed  above  him,  he  would  throw  himself  swiftly 
through  the  waters,  upset  the  canoe,  and  seize  some 
of  the  boatmen  and  devour  them.  He  was  greatly 
feared  by  all  the  fishermen  of  the  Fijian  coasts. 

Roko — a  mo-o  or  dragon  god — in  his  journey  among 
the  islands,  stopped  at  a  village  by  the  sea  and  asked 
for  a  canoe  and  boatmen.  The  people  said:  "We 
have  nothing  but  a  very  old  canoe  out  there  by  the 
water."  He  went  to  it  and  found  it  in  a  very  bad  con- 
dition. He  put  it  in  the  water,  and  decided  that  he 
could  use  it.  Then  he  asked  two  men  to  go  with  him 
and  paddle,  but  they  refused  because  of  fear,  and  ex- 
plained this  fear  by  telling  the  story  of  the  water 
demon,  who  continually  sought  the  destruction  of  this 

97 


canoe,  and  also  their  own  death.  Roko  encouraged 
them  to  take  him  to  wage  battle  with  Tuna,  telling 
them  he  would  destroy  the  monster.  They  paddled 
until  they  were  directly  over  Tuna's  cave.  Roko  told 
them  to  go  off  to  one  side  and  wait  and  watch,  saying: 
"I  am  going  down  to  see  this  Tuna.  If  you  see  red 
blood  boil  up  through  the  water,  you  may  be  sure  that 
Tuna  has  been  killed.  If  the  blood  is  black,  then  you 
will  know  that  he  has  the  victory  and  I  am  dead." 

Roko  leaped  into  the  water  and  went  down — down 
to  the  door  of  the  cave.  The  coral  doors  were  closed. 
He  grasped  them  in  his  strong  hands  and  tore  them 
open,  breaking  them  in  pieces.  Inside  he  found  cave 
after  cave  of  coral,  and  broke  his  way  through  until 
at  last  he  awoke  Tuna.  The  angry  demon  cried: 
"Who  is  that?"  Roko  answered:  'Tt  is  I,  Roko, 
alone.     Who  are  you?" 

Tuna  aroused  himself  and  demanded  Roko's  busi- 
ness and  who  guided  him  to  that  place.  Roko  replied : 
"No  one  has  guided  mie.  I  go  from  place  to  place, 
thinking  that  there  is  no  one  else  in  the  world." 

Tuna  shook  himself  angrily.  "Do  you  think  I  am 
nothing?    This  day  is  your  last." 

Roko  replied :  "Perhaps  so.  If  the  sky  falls,  I 
shall  die." 

Tuna  leaped  upon  Roko  and  bit  him.  Then  came 
the  mighty  battle  of  the  coral  caves.  Roko  broke 
Tuna  into  several  pieces — and  the  red  blood  poured 

98 


in  boiling  bubbles  upward  through  the  clear  ocean 
waters,  and  the  boatmen  cried :  "The  blood  is  red — 
the  blood  is  red — Tuna  is  dead  by  the  hand  of  Roko." 
Roko  lived  for  a  time  in  Fiji,  where  his  descendants 
still  find  their  home.  The  people  use  this  chant  to  aid 
them  in  difficulties: 

"My  load  is  a  red  one. 

It  points  in  front  to  Kawa   (Eoko's   home). 

Behind,  it  points  to  Dolomo — (a  village  on  another  island)." 

In  the  Hawaiian  legends,  Hina  was  Maui's  mother 
rather  than  his  wife,  and  Kuna  (Tuna)  was  a  mo-o,  a 
dragon  or  gigantic  lizard  possessing  miraculous 
powers. 

Hina's  home  was  in  the  large  cave  under  the  beau- 
tiful Rainbow  Falls  near  the  city  of  Hilo.  Above  the 
falls  the  bed  of  the  river  is  along  the  channel  of  an 
ancient  lava  flow.  Sometimes  the  water  pours  in  a 
torrent  over  the  rugged  lava,  sometimes  it  passes 
through  underground  passages  as  well  as  along  the 
black  river  bed,  and  sometimes  it  thrusts  itself  into 
boiling  pools. 

Maui  lived  on  the  northern  side  of  the  river,  but  a 
chief  named  Kuna-moo — a  dragon — lived  in  the  boil- 
ing pools.  He  attacked  Hina  and  threw  a  dam  across 
the  river  below  Rainbow  Falls,  intending  to  drown 
Hina  in  her  cave.  The  great  ledge  of  rock  filled  the 
river  bed  high  up  the  bank  on  the  Hilo  side  of  the 

99 


river.  Hina  called  on  Maui  for  aid.  Maui  came 
quickly  and  with  mighty  blows  cut  out  a  new  channel 
for  the  river — the  path  it  follows  to  this  day.  The 
waters  sank  and  Hina  remained  unharmed  in  her 
cave. 

The  place  where  Kuna  dwelt  was  called  Wai-kuna 
— the  Kuna  water.  The  river  in  which  Hina  and 
Kuna  dwelt  bears  the  name  Wailuku — "the  destruc- 
tive water."  Maui  went  above  Kuna's  home  and 
poured  hot  water  into  the  river.  This  part  of  the 
myth  could  easily  have  arisen  from  a  lava  outburst  on 
the  side  of  the  volcano  above  the  river.  The  hot  water 
swept  in  a  flood  over  Kuna's  home.  Kuna  jum-ped 
from  the  boiling  pools  over  a  series  of  small  falls  near 
his  home  into  the  river  below.  Here  the  hot  water 
again  scalded  him  and  in  pain  he  leaped  from  the 
river  to  the  bank,  where  Maui  killed  him  by  beating 
him  with  a  club.  His  body  was  washed  down  the 
river  over  the  falls  under  which  Hina  dwelt,  into  the 
ocean. 

The  story  of  Kuna  or  Tuna  is  a  legend  with  a 
foundation  in  the  enmity  between  two  chiefs  of  the 
long  ago,  and  also  in  a  desire  to  explain  the  origin  of 
the  family  of  eels  and  the  invention  of  nets  and  traps. 


100 


Wailuku  River — the  Boiling  Pots. 


VIII. 
MAUI  AND  HIS  BROTHER-IN-LAW. 


/^■rHE  "Stories  of  Maui's  Brother-in-Law,"  and  of 
if  I  "Maui  seeking  Immortality,"  are  not  found  in 
^■^  Hawaiian  mythology.  We  depend  upon  Sir 
George  Grey  and  John  White  for  the  New  Zealand 
myths  in  which  both  of  these  legends  occur. 

Maui's  sister  Hina-uri  married  Ira-waru,  who  was 
willing  to  work  with  his  skillful  brother-in-law.  They 
hunted  in  the  forests  and  speared  birds.  They  fished 
and  farmed  together.  They  passed  through  many  ex- 
periences sim-ilar  to  those  Maui's  own  brothers  had 
suffered  before  the  brother-in-law  took  their  place  as 
Maui's  companion.  They  made  spears  together — but 
Maui  made  notched  barbs  for  his  spear  ends — and 
slipped  them  off  when  Ira-waru  came  near.  So  for  a 
long  time  the  proceeds  of  bird  hunting  fell  to  Maui. 
But  after  a  time  the  brother-in-law  learned  the  secret 
as  the  brothers  had  before,  and  Maui  was  looked  up  to 
by  his  fellow  hunter  as  the  skillful  one.     Sometimes 

101 


Ira-waru  was  able  to  see  at  once  Maui's  plan  and 
adopt  it.  He  discovered  Maui's  method  of  making  the 
punga  or  eel  baskets  for  catching  eels. 

The  two  hunters  went  to  the  forest  to  find  a  cer- 
tain creeping  vine  with  which  to  weave  their  eel 
snares.  Ira-waru  made  a  basket  with  a  hole,  by  which 
the  eels  could  enter,  but  they  could  turn  around  and 
go  out  the  same  way.  So  he  very  seldom  caught  an 
eel.  But  Maui  made  his  basket  with  a  long  funnel- 
shaped  door,  by  which  the  eels  could  easily  slide  into 
the  snare  but  could  scarcely  escape.  He  made  a  door 
in  the  side  which  he  fastened  tight  until  he  wished  to 
pour  the  eels  out. 

Ira-waru  immediately  made  a  basket  like  Maui. 
Then  Maui  becam^e  angry  and  uttered  incantations 
over  Ira-waru.  The  man  dropped  on  the  ground  and 
became  a  dog.  Maui  returned  home  and  met  his 
sister,  who  charged  him  with  sorcery  concerning  her 
husband. 

Maui  did  not  deny  the  exercise  of  his  power,  but 
taught  his  sister  a  chant  and  sent  her  out  to  the  level 
country.  There  she  uttered  her  chant  and  a  strange 
dog  with  long  hair  came  to  her,  barking  and  leaping 
around  her.  Then  she  knew  what  Maui  had  done. 
"Thus  Ira-waru  became  the  first  of  the  long-haired 
dogs  whose  flesh  has  been  tabooed  to  women." 

The  Tahu  and  Hau  tribes  of  New  Zealand  tell  a 
different  story.     They  say  that  Maui   went   to  visit 

102 


Ira-waru.  Together  they  set  out  on  a  journey.  After 
a  time  they  rested  by  the  wayside  and  became  sleepy. 
Maui  asked  Ira-waru  to  cleanse  his  head.  This  gave 
him  the  restful,  soothing  touch  which  aided  sleep. 
Then  Maui  proposed  that  Ira-waru  sleep.  Taking  the 
head  in  his  hands,  Maui  put  his  brother-in-law  to 
sleep.  Then  by  incantations  he  made  the  sleep  very 
deep  and  prolonged.  Meanwhile  he  pulled  the  ears 
and  arms  and  limbs  until  they  were  properly  length- 
ened. He  drew  out  the  under  jaw  until  it  had  the 
form  of  a  dog's  mouth.  He  stretched  the  end  of  the 
backbone  into  a  tail,  and  then  wakened  Ira-waru  and 
drove  him  back  when  he  tried  to  follow  the  path  to 
the   settlement. 

Hina-uri  went  out  and  called  her  husband.  He 
came  to  her,  leaping  and  barking.  She  decided  that  this 
was  her  husband,  and  in  her  agony  reproached  Maui 
and  wandered  away. 

The  Rua-nui  story-tellers  of  New  Zealand  say  that 
Maui's  anger  was  aroused  against  Ira-waru  because 
he  ate  all  the  bait  when  they  went  fishing,  and  they 
could  catch  no  fish  after  paddling  out  to  the  fishing 
grounds.  When  they  cam-e  to  land,  Maui  told  Ira- 
waru  to  lie  down  in  the  sand  as  a  roller  over  which 
to  drag  the  canoe  up  the  beach.  When  he  was  lying 
helpless  under  the  canoe,  Maui  changed  him  into  a 
dog. 

The  Arawa  legends  make  the  cause  of  Maui's  anger 

103 


the  success  of  Ira-waru  while  fishing.  Ira-waru  had 
many  fish  while  Maui  had  captured  but  few.  The 
story  is  told  thus :  "Ira-waru  hooked  a  fish  and  in 
pulling  it  in  his  line  became  entangled  with  that  of 
Maui.  Maui  felt  the  jerking  and  began  to  pull  in  his 
line.  Soon  they  pulled  their  lines  close  up  to  the 
canoe,  one  to  the  bow,  the  other  to  the  stern,  where 
each  was  sitting.  Maui  said:  'Let  me  pull  the  lines 
to  me,  as  the  fish  is  on  my  hook.'  His  brother-in-law 
said:  'Not  so;  the  fish  is  on  mine.'  But  Maui  said: 
'Let  me  pull  my  line  in.'  Ira-waru  did  so  and  saw 
that  the  fish  was  on  his  hook.  Then  he  said :  'Untwist 
your  lines  and  let  mine  go,  that  I  may  pull  the  fish  in.' 
Maui  said :  'I  will  do  so,  but  let  me  have  time.'  He 
took  the  fish  oflF  Ira-waru's  hook  and  saw  that  there 
was  a  barb  on  the  hook.  He  said  to  Ira-waru :  'Per- 
haps we  ought  to  return  to  land.'  When  they  were 
dragging  the  canoe  on  shore,  Maui  said  to  Ira-waru : 
'Get  between  the  canoe  and  outrigger  and  drag.'  Ira- 
waru  did  so  and  Maui  leaped  on  the  outrigger  and 
weighed  it  heavily  down  and  crushed  Ira-waru  pros- 
trate on  the  beach.  Maui  trod  on  him  and  pulled  his 
backbone  long  like  a  tail  and  changed  him  into  a  dog." 
Maui  is  said  to  have  tattooed  the  muzzle  of  the  dog 
with  a  beautiful  pattern  which  the  birds  (kahui-zara, 
a  flock  of  tern)  used  in  marking  the  sky.  From  this 
also  came  the  red  glow  which  sometimes  flushes  the 
face  of  man. 

104 


Another  Arawa  version  of  the  legend  was  that  Maui 
and  Ira-waru  were  journeying  together,  Ira-waru  was 
gluttonous  and  ate  the  best  food.  At  last  Maui  deter- 
mined to  punish  his  companion.  By  incantation  he 
lengthened  the  way  until  Ira-waru  became  faint  and 
weary.  Maui  had  provided  himself  with  a  little  food 
and  therefore  was  enabled  to  endure  the  long  way. 
While  Ira-waru  slept  Maui  trod  on  his  backbone  and 
lengthened  it  and  changed  the  arms  and  limbs  into 
the  legs  of  a  dog.  When  Hina-uri  saw  the  state  of  her 
husband  she  went  into  the  thatched  house  by  which 
Ira-waru  had  so  often  stood  watching  the  hollow  log 
in  which  she  dried  the  fish  and  preserved  the  birds 
speared  in  the  mountains.  She  bound  her  girdle  and 
hala-leaf  apron  around  her  and  went  down  to  the  sea 
to  drown  herself,  that  her  body  might  be  eaten  by  the 
monsters  of  the  sea.  When  she  came  to  the  shell- 
covered  beach,  she  sat  down  and  sang  her  death  song — 

"I  weep,  I  call  to  the  steep  billows  of  the  sea 
And  to  him,  the  great,  the  ocean  god; 
To  monsters,  all  now  hidden, 
To  come   and  bury  me. 
Who  now  am  wrapped  in  mourning. 
Let  the  waves  wear  their  mourning,  too, 
And  sleep  as  sleeps  the  dead." 

— Ancient  Maui  Chant  of  New  Zealand. 

Then  Hina-uri  threw  herself  into  the  sea  and  was 
borne  on  the  waves  many  moons,  at  last  drifting  to 

105 


shore,  to  be  found  by  two  fishermen.  They  carried 
the  body  off  to  the  fire  and  warmed  it  back  to  Hfe. 
They  brushed  off  the  sea  moss  and  sea  weeds  and 
rubbed  her  until  she  awoke. 

Soon  they  told  their  chief,  Tini-rau,  what  a  beauti- 
ful woman  they  had  found  in  the  sea.  He  came  and 
took  her  away  to  make  her  one  of  his  wives.  But  the 
other  wives  were  jealous  and  drove  Hina-uri  away 
fromi  the  chief's  houses. 

Another  New  Zealand  legend  says  that  Hina  came 
to  the  sea  and  called  for  a  little  fish  to  aid  her  in 
going  away  from  the  island.  It  tried  to  carry  her,  but 
was  too  weak.  Hina  struck  it  with  her  open  hand. 
It  had  striped  sides  forever  after.  She  tried  a  larger 
fish,  but  fell  off  before  they  had  gone  far  from  shore.  Her 
blow  gave  this  fish  its  beautiful  blue  spots.  Another 
received  black  spots.  Another  she  stamped  her  foot 
upon,  making  it  flat.  At  last  a  shark  carried  her  far 
away.  She  was  very  thirsty,  and  broke  a  cocoanut 
on  the  shark's  head,  making  a  bump,  which  has  been 
handed  down  for  generations.  The  shark  carried  her 
to  the  home  of  the  two  who  rescued  her  and  gave  her 
new  strength. 

Meanwhile  Rupe  or  Maui-mua,  a  brother  of  Hina- 
uri  and  Maui,  grieved  for  his  sister.  He  sought  for 
her  throughout  the  land  and  then  launched  his  canoe 
upon  the  blue  waters  surrounding  Ao-tea-roa  (The 
Great  White  Land;  the  ancient  native  New  Zealand) 

106 


"Outside    Were    Other  Worlds." 


and  searched  the  coasts.  He  only  learned  that  his 
sister  had,  as  the  natives  said,  "leaped  into  the  waters 
and  been  carried  away  into  the  heavens." 

Rupe's  heart  filled  with  the  desire  to  find  and  pro- 
tect the  frenzied  sister  who  had  probably  taken  a 
canoe  and  floated  away,  out  of  the  horizon,  seen  from 
New  Zealand  coasts,  into  new  horizons.  During  the 
Viking  age  of  the  Pacific,  when  many  chiefs  sailed 
long  distances,  visiting  the  most  remote  islands  of 
Polynesia,  they  frequently  spoke  of  breaking  through 
from  the  home  land  into  new  heavens — or  of  climbing 
up  the  path  of  the  sun  on  the  waters  into  a  new 
heaven.  This  was  their  poetical  way  of  passing  from 
horizon  to  horizon.  The  horizon  around  their  par- 
ticular island  surrounded  their  complete  world.  Out- 
side, somewhere,  were  other  worlds  and  other  heavens. 
Rupe's  voyage  was  an  idyll  of  the  Pacific.  It  was  one 
more  story  to  be  added  to  the  prose  poems  of  conse- 
crated travel.  It  was  a  brother  feeling  through  the 
mysteries  of  unknown  lands  for  a  sister,  as  dear  to 
him  as  an  Evangeline  has  been  to  other  men. 

From  the  mast-land  of  the  Polynesian  race  comes 
this  story  of  the  trickery  of  Maui  the  learned,  and  the 
faithfulness  of  his  older  brother  Maui-mua  or  Rupe — 
one  of  the  "five  forgetful  Mauis."  Rupe  hoisted  mat- 
sails  over  his  canoe  and  thus  made  the  winds  serve 
him.  He  paddled  the  canoe  onward  through  the  hoi.its 
when  calms  rested  on  glassy  waves. 

107 


Thus  he  passed  out  of  sight  of  Ao-tea-roa,  away 
from  his  brothers,  and  out  of  the  reach  of  all  tricks 
and  incantations  of  Maui,  the  mischievous.  He  sailed 
until  a  new  island  rose  out  of  the  sea  to  greet  him. 
Here  in  a  "new  heaven"  he  found  friends  to  care  for 
him  and  prepare  him  for  his  longer  journey.  His 
restless  anxiety  for  his  sister  urged  him  onward  until 
days  lengthened  into  months  and  months  into  years. 
He  passed  from  the  horizons  of  newly-discovered 
islands,  into  the  horizons  of  circling  skies  around 
islands  of  which  he  had  never  heard  before.  Some- 
times he  found  relatives,  but  more  frequently  his  wel- 
come cam'C  from  those  who  could  trace  no  historical 
touch  in  their  genealogies. 

Here  and  there,  apparently,  he  found  traces  of  a 
woman  whose  description  answered  that  of  his  sister 
Hina-uri.  At  last  he  looked  through  the  heavens  upon 
a  new  world,  and  saw  his  sister  in  great  trouble. 

According  to  some  legends  the  jealous  wives  of  the 
great  chief,  Tini-rau,  attack  Hina,  who  was  known 
among  them  as  Hina-te-ngaru-moana,  "Hina,  the 
daughter  of  the  ocean."  Tini-rau  and  Hina  lived 
away  from  the  village  of  the  chief  until  their  little  boy 
was  born.  When  they  needed  food,  the  chief  said, 
"Let  us  go  to  my  settlement  and  we  shall  have  food 
provided." 

But  Hina  chanted: 

108 


"Let   it   down,   let  it   down, 
Descend,   oh!    descend — " 

and  sufficient  food  fell  before  them.  After  a  time 
their  frail  clothing  wore  out,  and  the  cold  chilled  them, 
then  Hina  again  uttered  the  incantation  and  clothing 
was  provided  for  their  need. 

But  the  jealous  wives,  two  in  number,  finally  heard 
where  Hina  and  the  chief  were  living,  and  started  to 
see  them. 

Tini-rau  said  to  Hina,  "Here  come  my  other  wives — 
be  careful  how  you  act  before  them." 

She  replied,  "If  they  come  in  anger  it  will  be  evil." 

She  armed  herself  with  an  obsidian  or  volcanic- 
glass  knife,  and  waited  their  combing. 

They  tried  to  throw  enchantments  around  her  to 
kill  her.  Then  one  of  them  made  a  blow  at  her  with 
a  weapon,  but  she  turned  it  aside  and  killed  her 
enemy  with  the  obsidian  knife. 

Then  the  other  wife  made  an  attack,  and  again  the 
obsidian  knife  brought  death.  She  ripped  open  the 
stomachs  of  the  jealous  ones  and  showed  the  chief 
fish  lines  and  sinkers  and  other  property  which  they 
had  eaten  in  the  past  and  which  Tini-rau  had  never 
been  able  to  trace. 

Another  legend  says  that  the  two  women  came  to 
kill  Hina  when  they  heard  of  the  birth  of  her  boy. 
For  a  time  she  was  greatly  terrified.    Then  she  saw 

109 


that  they  were  coming  from  different  directions.  She 
attacked  the  nearest  one  with  a  stone  and  killed  her. 
The  body  burst  open,  and  was  seen  to  be  full  of  green 
stone.  Then  she  killed  the  second  wife  in  the  same 
way,  and  found  more  green  stones.  "Thus,  according 
to  the  legends,  originated  the  greenstone"  from  which 
the  choicest  and  most  valuable  stone  tools  have  since 
been  made.  For  a  time  the  chief  and  Hina  lived  hap- 
pily together.  Then  he  began  to  neglect  her  and 
abuse  her,  until  she  cried  aloud  for  her  brother — 

"O   Eupe!    come   down. 
Take  me  and  my  child." 

Rupe  assumed  the  form  of  a  bird  and  flew  down  to 
this  world  in  which  he  had  found  his  sister.  He 
chanted  as  he  came  down — 

"It   is   Eupe,    yes   Eupe, 
The  elder  brother; 
And  I  am  here," 

He  folded  the  mother  and  her  boy  under  his  wings 
and  flew  away  with  them.  Sir  George  Gray  relates 
a  legend  in  which  Maui-mua  or  Rupe  is  recorded  as 
having  carried  his  sister  and  her  child  to  one  of  the 
new  lands,  found  in  his  long  voyage,  where  dwelt  an 
aged  relative,  of  chief  rank,  with  his  retainers. 

Some  legends  say  that  Tini-rau  tried  to  catch  Rupe, 

110 


who  was  compelled  to  drop  the  child  in  order  to  es- 
cape with  the  mother.  Tini-rau  caught  the  child  and 
carefully  cared  for  him  until  he  grew  to  be  a  strong 
young  lad. 

Then  he  wanted  to  find  his  mother  and  bring  her 
back  to  his  father.  How  this  was  done,  how  Rupe 
took  his  sister  back  to  the  old  chief,  and  how  civil 
wars  arose  are  not  all  these  told  in  the  legends  of  the 
Maoris.  Thus  the  tricks  of  Maui  the  mischievous 
brought  trouble  for  a  time,  but  were  finally  over- 
shadowed by  happy  homes  in  neighboring  lands  for 
his  sufifering  sister  and  her  descendants. 


Ill 


m 


IX. 
MAUI'S  KITE  FLYING. 

'AUI  the  demi-god  was  sometimes  the  Hercules 
of  Polynesia.  His  exploits  were  fully  as 
marvelous  as  those  of  the  hero  of  classic 
mythology.  He  snared  the  sun.  He  pulled  up  islands 
from  the  ocean  depths.  He  lifted  the  sky  into  its 
present  position  and  smoothed  its  arched  surface  with 
his  stone  adze.    These  stories  belong  to  all  Polynesia. 

There  are  numerous  less  important  local  myths, 
some  of  them  peculiar  to  New  Zealand,  some  to  the 
Society  Islands  and  some  to  the  Hawaiian  group. 

One  of  the  old  native  Hawaiians  says  that  in  the 
long,  long  ago  the  birds  were  flying  around  the  homes 
of  the  ancient  people.  The  flutter  of  their  wings 
could  be  heard  and  the  leaves  and  branches  moved 
when  the  motion  of  the  wings  ceased  and  the  wan- 
derers through  the  air  found  resting  places.  Then 
came  sweet  music  from  the  trees  and  the  people  mar- 
velled.   Only  one  of  all  mankind  could  see  the  winged 

112 


warblers.  Maui,  the  demi-god,  had  clear  vision.  The 
swift-flying  wings  covered  with  red  or  gold  he  saw. 
The  throats  tinted  many  colors  and  reflecting  the  sun- 
light with  diamond  sparks  of  varied  hues  he  watched 
while  they  trembled  with  the  melody  of  sweet  bird 
songs.  All  others  heard  but  did  not  see.  They  were 
blind  and  yet  had  open  vision. 

Sometimes  the  iiwi  (a  small  red  bird)  fluttered  in 
the  air  and  uttered  its  shrill,  happy  song,  and  Maui 
saw  and  heard.  But  the  bird  at  that  time  was  without 
color  in  the  eyes  of  the  ancient  people  and  only  the 
clear  voice  was  heard,  while  no  speck  of  bird  life 
flecked  the  clear  sky  overhead. 

At  one  timie  a  god  from  one  of  the  other  islands 
came  to  visit  Maui.  Each  boasted  of  and  described  the 
beauties  and  merits  of  his  island.  While  they  were 
conversing,  Maui  called  for  his  friends  the  birds.  They 
gathered  around  the  house  and  fluttered  among  the 
leaves  of  the  surrounding  trees.  Soon  their  sweet 
voices  filled  the  air  on  all  sides.  All  the  people  won- 
dered and  worshiped,  thinking  they  heard  the  fairy  or 
micnehune  people.  It  was  said  that  Maui  had  painted 
the  bodies  of  his  invisible  songsters  and  for  a  long 
time  had  kept  the  delight  of  their  flashing  colors  to 
himself.  But  when  the  visitor  had  rejoiced  in  the  mys- 
terious harmonies,  Maui  decided  to  take  away  what- 
ever veil  shut  out  the  sight  of  these  things  beautiful, 
that  his  bird  friends   might  be   known  and   honored 

113 


ever  after.  So  he  made  the  birds  reveal  themselves 
perched  in  the  trees  or  flying  in  the  air.  The  clear 
eyes  of  the  god  first  recognized  the  new  revelation, 
then  all  the  people  became  dumb  before  the  sweet 
singers  adorned  in  all  their  brilliant  tropical  plumage. 

The  beautiful  red  birds,  iiwi  and  akakani,  and  the 
birds  of  glorious  yellow  feathers,  the  oo  and  the  mamo, 
were  a  joy  to  both  eye  and  ear  and  found  high  places 
in  Hawaiian  legend  and  story,  and  all  gave  their  most 
beautiful  feathers  for  the  cloaks  and  helmets  of  the 
chiefs. 

The  Maoris  of  New  Zealand  say  that  Maui  could  at 
will  change  himself  into  a  bird  and  with  his  feathered 
friends  find  a  hom^e  in  leafy  shelters.  In  bird  form  he 
visited  the  gods  of  the  under-world.  His  capricious 
soul  was  sensitive  to  the  touch  of  all  that  mysterious 
life  of  nature. 

With  the  birds  as  companions  and  the  winds  as  his 
servants  Maui  must  soon  have  turned  his  inventive 
mind  to  kite  making. 

The  Hawaiian  myths  are  perhaps  the  only  ones  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean  which  give  to  any  of  the  gods  the 
pleasure  and  excitement  of  kite  flying.  Maui,  after 
repeated  experiments,  made  a  large  kite  for  himself. 
It  was  miuch  larger  than  any  house  of  his  time  or 
generation.  He  twisted  a  long  line  from  the  strong 
fibers  of  the  native  plant  known  as  the  olona.  He 
endowed  both  kite  and  string  with  marvelous  powers 

114 


The  Home  of  the  Winds,    Hilo  Coast. 


and  launched  the  kite  up  toward  the  clouds.  It  rose 
very  slowly.  The  winds  were  not  lifting  it  into  the 
sky. 

Maui  remembered  that  an  old  priest  lived  in  Waipio 
valley,  the  largest  and  finest  valley  of  the  large  island, 
Hawaii,  on  which  he  made  his  home. 

This  priest  had  a  covered  calabash  in  which  he  com- 
pelled the  winds  to  hide  when  he  did  not  wish  them 
to  play  on  land  and  sea.  The  priest's  name  was  Ka- 
leiioku,  and  his  calabash  was  known  as  ipu-makani- 
a  ka  maumau.  "the  calabash  of  the  perpetual  winds." 
Maui  called  for  the  priest  who  had  charge  of  the 
winds  to  open  his  calabash  and  let  them  come  up  to 
Hilo  and  blow  along  the  Wailuku  river.  The  natives  say 
that  the  place  where  Maui  stood  was  marked  by  the 
pressure  of  his  feet  in  the  lava  rocks  of  the  river  bank 
as  he  braced  himself  to  hold  the  kite  against  the  in- 
creasing force  of  the  winds  which  pushed  it  towards 
the  sky.  Then  the  enthusiasm  of  kite  flying  filled  his 
youthful  soul  and  he  cried  aloud,  screaming  his  chal- 
lenge along  the  coast  of  the  sea  toward  Waipio — 

"O  winds,   winds   of   Waipio, 
In    the   calabash   of   Kaleiioku. 
Come   from   the   ipu-makani, 
O   wind,   the   wind   of   Hilo, 
Come   quickly,   come  with  power." 


115 


Then  the  priest  Hfted  the  cover  of  the  calabash  of 
the  winds  and  let  the  strong  winds  of  Hilo  escape. 
Along  the  sea  coast  they  rushed  until  as  they  entered 
Hilo  Bay  they  heard  the  voice  of  Maui  calling — 

"O   winds,   Tsdnds   of  Hilo, 
Hasten   and   come   to   me." 

With  a  tumultuous  rush  the  strong  winds  turned 
toward  the  mountains.  They  forced  their  way  along 
the  gorges  and  palisades  of  the  Wailuku  river.  They 
leaped  into  the  heavens,  making  a  fierce  attack  upon 
the  monster  which  Maui  had  sent  into  the  sky.  The 
kite  struggled  as  it  was  pushed  upward  by  the  hands 
of  the  fierce  winds,  but  Maui  rejoiced.  His  heart  was 
uplifted  by  the  joy  of  the  conflict  in  which  his  strength 
to  hold  was  pitted  against  the  power  of  the  winds  to 
tear  away.     And  again  he  shouted  toward  the  sea — 

"O  winds,  the  winds  of  Hilo, 
Come  to  the  mountains,  come." 

The  winds  which  had  been  stirring  up  storms  on 
the  face  of  the  waters  came  inland.  They  dashed 
against  Maui.  They  climbed  the  heights  of  the  skies 
until  they  fell  with  full  violence  against  their  mighty 
foe  hanging  in  the  heavens. 

The  kite  had  been  made  of  the  strongest  kapa 
(paper    cloth)    which   Maui's    mother   could    prepare. 

116 


It  was  not  torn,  although  it  was  bent  backward  to  its 
utmost  limit.  Then  the  strain  came  on  the  strong 
cord  of  olona  fibre.  The  line  was  stretched  and 
strained  as  the  kite  was  pushed  back.  Then  Maui 
called  again  and  again  for  stronger  winds  to  come. 
The  cord  was  drawn  out  until  the  kite  was  far  above 
the  mountains.  At  last  it  broke  and  the  kite  was 
tossed  over  the  craters  of  the  volcanoes  to  the  land 
of  the  district  of  Ka-u  on  the  other  side  of  the  island. 

Then  Maui  was  angry  and  hastily  leaped  over  the 
mountains,  which  are  nearly  fourteen  thousand  feet 
in  altitude.  In  a  half  dozen  strides  he  had  crossed  the 
fifty  or  sixty  miles  from  his  home  to  the  place  where 
the  kite  lay.  He  could  pass  over  many  miles  with  a 
single  step.  His  nam^e  was  Maui-Mama,  "Maui  the 
Swift."  When  Maui  returned  with  his  kite  he  was 
more  careful  in  calling  the  winds  to  aid  him  in  his 
sport. 

The  people  watched  their  wise  neighbor  and  soon 
learned  that  the  kite  could  be  a  great  blessing  to  them. 
When  it  was  soaring  in  the  sky  there  was  always  dry 
and  pleasant  weather.  It  was  a  day  for  great  rejoic- 
ing. They  could  spread  out  their  kapa  cloth  to  dry  as 
long  as  the  kite  was  in  the  sky.  They  could  carry 
out  their  necessary  work  without  fear  of  the  rain. 
Therefore  when  any  one  saw  the  kite  beginning  to 
float  along  the  mountain  side  he  would  call  out  joy- 
fully, "E!  Maui's  kite  is  in  the  heavens."     Maui  would 

117 


send  his  kite  into  the  blue  sky  and  then  tie  the  Hne 
to  the  great  black  stones  in  the  bed  of  the  Wailuku 
river. 

Maui  soon  learned  the  power  of  his  kite  when 
blown  upon  by  a  fierce  wind.  With  his  accustomed 
skill  he  planned  to  make  use  of  his  strong  servant, 
and  therefore  took  the  kite  with  him  on  his  journeys 
to  the  other  islands,  using  it  to  aid  in  making  swift 
voyages.  With  the  wind  in  the  right  direction,  the 
kite  could  pull  his  double  canoe  very  easily  and  quickly 
to  its  destination. 

Time  passed,  and  even  the  demi-god  died.  The  fish 
hook  with  which  he  drew  the  Hawaiian  Islands  up 
from  the  depths  of  the  sea  was  allowed  to  lie  on  the 
lava  by  the  Wailuku  river  until  it  became  a  part  of 
the  stone.  The  double  canoe  was  carried  far  inland 
and  then  permitted  to  petrify  by  the  river  side.  The 
two  stones  which  represent  the  double  canoe  now 
bear  the  name  "Waa-Kauhi,"  and  the  kite  has  fallen 
from  the  sky  far  up  on  the  mountain  side,  where  it 
still  rests,  a  flat  plot  of  rich  land  between  Mauna  Kea 
and  Mauna  Loa. 


118 


X. 
THE    OAHU    LEGENDS    OF    MAU'I. 


EVERAL  Maui  legends  have  been  located  on  the 
island  of  Oahti.  They  were  given  by  Mr.  Kaaia 
to  Mr.  T.  G.  Thrum,  the  publisher  of  what  is  well 
known  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  as  "Thrum's  Annual." 
He  has  kindly  furnished  them  for  added  interest  to  the 
present  volume.  The  legends  have  a  distinctly  local 
flavor  confined  entirely  to  Oahu.  It  has  seemed  best  to 
reserve  them  for  a  chapter  by  themselves  although  they 
are  chiefly  variations  of  stories  already  told. 

MAUI  AND  THE  TWO  GODS. 

This  history  of  Maui  and  his  grandmother  Hina  begins 
with  their  arrival  from  foreign  lands.  They  dwelt  in 
Kane-ana  (Kane's  cave),  Waianae,  Oahu.  This  is  an 
"ana,"  or  cave,  at  Puu-o-hulu.  Hina  had  wonderful 
skill  in  making  all  kinds  of  tapa  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  women  of  ancient  Hawaii. 

Maui  went  to  the  Koolau  side  and  rested  at  Kaha-luu, 

119 


a  diving  place  in  Koolaupoko.  In  that  place  there  is  a 
noted  hill  called  Ma-eli-eli.  This  is  the  story  of  that  hill. 
Maui  threw  up  a  pile  of  dirt  and  concealed  rubbish  under 
it.  The  two  gods,  Kane  and  Kanaloa,  came  along  and 
asked  Maui  what  he  was  doing.  He  said,  "What  you  see. 
You  two  dig  on  that  side  to  the  foot  of  the  pali,  (preci- 
pice) and  I  will  go  down  at  Kaha-luu.  If  you  two 
dig  through  first,  you  may  kill  me.  If  I  get  through 
first  I  will  kill  you."  They  agreed,  and  began  to  dig 
and  throw  up  the  dirt.  Then  Maui  dug  three  times 
and  tossed  up  some  of  the  hills  of  that  place.  Kane 
and  Kanaloa  saw  that  Maui  was  digging  very  fast,  so 
they  put  forth  very  great  strength  and  threw  the  dirt 
into  a  hill.  Meanwhile  Maui  ran  away  to  the  other 
side  of  the  island.  Thus  by  the  aid  of  the  gods  the  hill 
Ma-eli-eli  was  thrown  up  and  received  its  name  "eli," 
meaning  "dig."  "Ma-eli-eli"  meant  "the  place  of  dig- 
ging." 

HOW  THEY  FOUND  FIRE. 

It  was  said  that  Maui  and  Hina  had  no  fire.  They 
were  often  cold  and  had  no  cooked  food.  Maui  saw 
flames  rising  in  a  distant  place  and  ran  to  see  how 
they  were  made.  When  he  came  to  that  place  the 
fire  was  out  and  some  birds  flew  away.  One  of  them 
was  Ka-Alae-huapi,  "the  stingy  Alae" — a  small  duck, 
the  Hawaiian  mud  hen.    Maui  watched  again  and  saw 

120 


Bay  of  Waipio  Valley. 


fire.  When  he  went  up  the  birds  saw  him  coming  and 
scattered  the  fire,  carrying  the  ashes  into  the  water; 
but  he  leaped  and  caught  the  Httle  Alae.  "Ah!"  he 
said,  "I  will  kill  you,  because  you  do  not  let  me  have 
fire."  The  bird  replied,  "If  you  kill  me  you  cannot 
find  fire."  Maui  said,  "Where  is  fire?"  The  Alae  said, 
"Go  up  on  the  high  land  where  beautiful  plants  with 
large  leaves  are  standing;  rub  their  branches."  Maui 
set  the  bird  free  and  went  inland  from  Halawa  and 
found  dry  land  taro.  He  began  to  rub  the  stalks,  but 
only  juice  came  out  like  water.  He  had  no  red  fire. 
He  was  very  angry  and  said,  "If  that  lying  Alae  is 
caught  again  by  mc  I  will  be  its  death." 

After  a  while  he  saw  the  fire  burning  and  ran 
swiftly.  The  birds  saw  him  and  cried,  "The  cooking 
is  over.  Here  comes  the  swift  grandchild  of  Hina." 
They  scattered  the  fire ;  threw  the  ashes  away  and 
flew  into  the  water.  But  again  Maui  caught  the  Alae 
and  began  to  kill  it,  saying:  "You  gave  me  a  plant 
full  of  water  from  which  to  get  fire."  The  bird  said, 
"If  I  die  you  can  never  find  fire.  I  will  give  you  the 
secret  of  fire.  Take  a  branch  of  that  dry  tree  and  rub." 
Maui  held  the  bird  fast  in  one  hand  while  he  rubbed 
with  the  other  until  smoke  and  fire  came  out.  Then 
he  took  the  fire  stick  and  rubbed  the  head  of  the  bird, 
making  a  place  where  red  and  white  feathers  have 
grown  ever  since. 


121 


He  returned  to  Hina  and  taught  her  how  to  make 
fire,  using  the  two  fire  sticks  and  how  to  twist  coco- 
nut fibre  to  catch  the  fire  when  it  had  been  kindled  in 
wood.  But  the  Alae  was  not  forgotten.  It  was  called 
huapi,  "stingy,"  because  it  selfishly  kept  the  knowledge 
of  fire  making  to  itself. 

MAUI  CATCHING  THE  SUN. 

Maui  watched  Hina  making  tapa.  The  wet  tapa 
was  spread  on  a  long  tapa  board,  and  Hina  began  at 
one  end  to  pound  it  into  shape;  pounding  from  one 
end  to  another.  He  noticed  that  sunset  came  by  the 
time  she  had  pounded  to  the  middle  of  the  board. 
The  sun  hurried  so  fast  that  she  could  only  begin  her 
work  before  the  day  was  past. 

He  went  to  the  hill  Hele-a-ka-la,  which  means 
"journey  of  the  sun."  He  thought  he  would  catch  the 
sun  and  make  it  move  slowly.  He  went  up  the  hill 
and  waited.  When  the  sun  began  to  rise,  Maui  made 
himself  long,  stretching  up  toward  the  sky.  Soon  the 
shining  legs  of  the  sun  came  up  the  hillside.  He  saw 
Maui  and  began  to  run  swiftly,  but  Maui  reached  out 
and  caught  one  of  the  legs,  saying:  "O  sun,  I  will  kill 
you.  You  are  a  mischief  maker.  You  make  trouble 
for  Hina  by  going  so  fast."  Then  he  broke  the  shin- 
ing leg  of  the  sun.  The  sufferer  said,  "I  will  change 
my   way   and   go   slowly — six   months    slow   and   six 

122 


months  faster."  Thus  arose  the  saying,  "Long  shall 
be  the  daily  journey  of  the  sun  and  he  shall  give  light 
for  all  the  people's  toil."  Hina  learned  that  she  could 
pound  until  she  was  tired  while  the  farmers  could 
plant  and  take  care  of  their  fields.  Thus  also  this 
hill  received  its  name  Hele-a-ka-la.  This  is  one  of  the 
hills  of  Waianae  near  the  precipice  of  the  hill  Puu-o- 
hulu. 

UNITING  THE  ISLANDS. 

Maui  suggested  to  Hina  that  he  had  better  try  to  draw 
the  islands  together,  uniting  them  in  one  land.  Hina 
told  Maui  to  go  and  see  Alae-nui-a-Hina,  who  would 
tell  him  what  to  do.  The  Alae  told  him  they  must  go 
to  Ponaha-ke-one  (a  fishing  place  outside  of  Pearl 
Harbor)  and  find  Ka-uniho-kahi,  "the  one  toothed," 
who  held  the  land  under  the  sea. 

Maui  went  back  to  Hina.  She  told  him  to  ask  his 
brothers  to  go  fishing  with  him.  They  consented  and 
pushed  out  into  the  sea.  Soon  Maui  saw  a  bailing 
dish  floating  by  the  canoe  and  picked  it  up.  It  was 
named  Hina-a-ke-ka,  "Hina  who  fell  oflf."  They  pad- 
dled to  Ponaha-ke-one.  When  they  stopped  they  saw 
a  beautiful  young  woman  in  the  boat.  Then  they  an- 
chored and  again  looked  in  the  boat,  but  the  young 
woman  was  gone.  They  saw  the  bailing  dish  and 
threw  it  into  the  sea. 

123 


Maui-mua  threw  his  hook  and  caught  a  large  fish, 
which  was  seen  to  be  a  shark  as  they  drew  it  to  the 
surface.  At  once  they  cut  the  line.  So  also  Maui- 
hope  and  Maui-waena.  At  last  Maui  threw  his  hook 
Manai-i-ka-lani  into  the  sea.  It  went  down,  down  into 
the  depths.  Maui  cried,  "Hina-a-ke-ka  has  my  hook 
in  her  hand.  By  her  it  will  be  made  fast."  Hina 
went  down  with  the  hook  until  she  met  Ka-uniho-kahi. 
She  asked  him  to  open  his  mouth,  then  threw  the 
hook  far  inside  and  made  it  fast.  Then  she  pulled  the 
line  so  that  Maui  should  know  that  the  fish  was 
caught.  Maui  fastened  the  line  to  the  outrigger  of 
the  canoe  and  asked  his  brothers  to  paddle  with  all 
diligence,  and  not  look  back.  Long,  long,  they  pad- 
dled and  were  very  tired.  Then  Maui  took  a  paddle 
and  dipped  deep  in  the  sea.  The  boat  moved  more 
swiftly  through  the  sea.  The  brothers  looked  back 
and  cried,  "There  is  plenty  of  land  behind  us."  The 
charm  was  broken.  The  hook  came  out  of  "the  one 
toothed,"  and  the  raised  islands  sank  back  into  their 
place.  The  native  say,  "The  islands  are  now  united 
to  America.     Perhaps  Maui  has  been  at  work." 

MAUI  AND  PEA-PEA  THE  EIGHT-EYED. 

Maui  had  been  fishing  and  had  caught  a  great  fish 
upon  which  he  was  feasting.  He  looked  inland  and 
saw  his  wife,   Kumu-lama,   seized  and  carried  away 

124 


V. 


The  le-ie  Vine. 


by  Pea-pea-maka-walu,  "Pea-pea  the  eight-eyed." 
This  is  a  legend  derived  from  the  myths  of  many 
islands  in  which  Lupe  or  Rupe  (pigeon)  changed  him- 
self into  a  bird  and  flew  after  his  sister  Hina  who 
had  been  carried  on  the  back  of  a  shark  to  distant 
islands.  Sometimes  as  a  man  and  sometimes  as  a  bird 
he  prosecuted  his  search  until  Hina  was  found, 

Maui  pursued  Pea-pea,  but  could  not  catch  him. 
He  carried  Maui's  wife  over  the  sea  to  a  far  away 
island.  Maui  was  greatly  troubled  but  his  grand- 
mother sent  him  inland  to  find  an  old  man  who  would 
tell  him  what  to  do.  Maui  went  inland  and  looking 
down  toward  Waipahu  saw  this  man  Ku-olo-kele.  He 
was  hump-backed.  Maui  threw  a  large  stone  and  hit 
the  "hill  on  the  back"  knocked  it  ofif  and  made  the 
back  straight.  The  old  man  lifted  up  the  stone  and 
threw  it  to  Waipahu,  where  it  lies  to  this  day.  Then 
he  and  Maui  talked  together.  He  told  Maui  to  go 
and  catch  birds  and  gather  ti  leaves  and  fibers  of 
the  ie-ie  vine,  and  fill  his  house.  These  things  Maui 
secured  and  brought  to  him.  He  told  Maui  to  go 
home  and  return  after  three  days. 

Ku-olo-kele  took  the  ti  leaves  and  the  ie-ie  threads 
and  made  the  body  of  a  great  bird  which  he  covered 
with  bird  feathers.  He  fastened  all  together  with 
the  ie-ie.  This  was  done  in  the  first  day.  The  second 
day  he  placed  food  inside  and  tried  his  bird  and  it 

125 


flew  all  right.  "Thus,"  as  the  Hawaiians  say,  "the 
first  flying  ship  was  made  in  the  time  of  Maui."  This 
is  a  modern  version  of  Rupe  changing  himself  into  a 
bird. 

On  the  third  day  Maui  came  and  saw  the  wonderful 
bird  body  thoroughly  prepared  for  his  journey.  Maui 
went  inside.  Ku-olo-kele  said,  "When  you  reach  that 
land,  look  for  a  village.  If  the  people  are  not  there 
look  to  the  beach.  If  there  are  many  people,  your 
wife  and  Pea-pea  the  eight-eyed  will  be  there.  Do  not 
go  near,  but  fly  out  over  the  sea.  The  people  will 
say,  'O,  the  strange  bird;'  but  Pea-pea  will  say, 
'This  is  my  bird.  It  is  tabu.'  You  can  then  come 
to  the  people." 

Maui  pulled  the  ie-ie  ropes  fastened  to  the  wings 
and  made  them  move.  Thus  he  flew  away  into  the 
sky.  Two  days  was  his  journey  before  he  came  to 
that  strange  island,  Moana-liha-i-ka-wao-kele.  It  was 
a  beautiful  land.  He  flew  inland  to  a  village,  but 
there  were  no  people ;  according  to  the  ancient  chant : 

"The  houses  of  Lima-loa  stand. 
But  there  are  no  people; 
They  are  at  Mana." 

The  people  were  by  the  sea.  Maui  flew  over  them. 
He  saw  his  wife,  but  he  passed  on  flying  out  over  the 
sea,  skimming  like  a  sea  bird  down  to  the  water  and 

126 


rising  gracefully  up  to  the  sky.  Pea-pea  called  out, 
"This  is  my  bird.  It  is  tabu."  Maui  heard  and  came 
to  the  beach.  He  was  caught  and  placed  in  a  tabu 
box.  The  servants  carried  himi  up  to  the  village  and 
put  him  in  the  chief's  sleeping  house,  when  Pea-pea 
and  his  people  returned  to  their  homes. 

In  the  night  Pea-pea  and  Maui's  wife  lay  down  to 
sleep.  Maui  watched  Pea-pea,  hoping  that  he  would 
soon  sleep.  Then  he  would  kill  him.  Maui  waited. 
One  eye  was  closed,  seven  eyes  were  opened.  Then 
four  eyes  closed,  leaving  three.  The  night  was  almost 
past  and  dawn  was  near.  Then  Maui  called  to  Hina 
with  his  spirit  voice,  "O  Hina,  keep  it  dark."  Hina 
made  the  gray  dawn  dark  in  the  three  eyes  and  two 
closed  in  sleep.  The  last  eye  was  weary,  and  it  also 
slept.  Then  Maui  went  out  of  the  bird  body  and  cut 
ofif  the  head  of  Pea-pea  and  put  it  inside  the  bird.  He 
broke  the  roof  of  the  house  until  a  large  opening  was 
made.  He  took  his  wife,  Kumu-lama,  and  flew  away 
to  the  island  of  Oahu.  The  winds  blew  hard  against 
the  flying  bird.  Rain  fell  in  torrents  around  it,  but 
those  inside  had  no  trouble. 

"Thus  Maui  returned  with  his  wife  to  his  home  in 
Oahu.    The  story  is  pau   (finished)." 


127 


XL 
MAUI  SEEKING  IMMORTALITY. 


Climb   up,   climib  up, 

To  the  highest  surface  of  heaven, 

To  all  the  sides  of  heaven. 

Climb  then   to  thy  ancestor, 
The  sacred  bird  in  the  sky, 
To  thy  ancestor  Eehua 
In   the  heavens. 

— New  Zealand  kite  incantation. 


^^^HE  Story  of  Maui  seeking  immortality  for  the 
if  I  human  race  is  one  of  the  finest  myths  in  the 
^■^  world.  For  pure  imagination  and  pathos  it  is 
difficult  to  find  any  tale  from  Grecian  or  Latin  liter- 
ature to  compare  with  it.  In  Greek  and  Roman  fables 
gods  suffered  for  other  gods,  and  yet  none  were  sur- 
rounded with  such  absolutely  mythical  experiences  as 
those  through  which  the  demi-god  Maui  of  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  passed  when  he  entered  the  gates  of  death 
with  the  hope  of  winning  immortality  for  mankind. 
The  really  remarkable  group  of  legends  which  cluster 

128 


around  Maui  is  well  concluded  by  the  story  of  his 
unselfish  and  heroic  battle  with  death. 

The  different  islands  of  the  Pacific  have  their  Hades, 
or  abode  of  dead.  It  is,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
down  in  the  interior  of  the  earth.  Sometimes  the 
tunnels  left  by  currents  of  melted  lava  are  the  pas- 
sages into  the  home  of  departed  spirits.  In  Samoa 
there  are  two  circular  holes  among  the  rocks  at  the 
west  end  of  the  island  Savaii.  These  are  the  en- 
trances to  the  under-world  for  chiefs  and  people.  The 
spirits  of  those  who  die  on  the  other  islands  leap  into 
the  sea  and  swim  around  the  land  from  island  to 
island  until  they  reach  Savaii.  Then  they  plunge 
down  into  their  heaven  or  their  hades. 

The  Tongans  had  a  spirit  island  for  the  home  of 
the  dead.  They  said  that  some  natives  once  sailed  far 
away  in  a  canoe  and  found  this  island.  It  was  cov- 
ered with  all  manner  of  beautiful  fruits,  among  which 
rare  birds  sported.  They  landed,  but  the  trees  were 
shadows.  They  grasped  but  could  not  hold  them. 
The  fruits  and  the  birds  were  shadows.  The  men  ate, 
but  swallowed  nothing  substantial.  It  was  shadow- 
land.  They  walked  through  all  the  delights  their 
eyes  looked  upon,  but  found  no  substance.  They  re- 
turned home,  but  ever  seemed  to  listen  to  spirits 
calling  them  back  to  the  island.  In  a  short  time  all 
the  voyagers  were  dead. 

There  is  no  escape  from  death.    The  natives  of  New 

129 


Zealand  say:  "Man  may  have  descendants,  but  the 
daughters  of  the  night  strangle  his  offspring";  and 
again :  "Men  make  heroes,  but  death  carries  them 
away." 

There  are  very  few  legends  among  the  Polynesians 
concerning  the  death  of  Maui.  And  these  are  usually 
fragmentary,  except  among  the  Maoris  of  New  Zea- 
land. 

The  Hawaiian  legend  of  the  death  of  Maui  is  to 
the  effect  that  he  offended  some  of  the  greater  gods 
living  in  Waipio  valley  on  the  Island  of  Hawaii.  Ka- 
naloa,  one  of  the  four  greatest  gods  of  Hawaii,  seized 
him  and  dashed  him  against  the  rocks.  His  blood 
burst  fromi  the  body  and  colored  the  earth  red  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  valley.  The  Hawaiians  in  another 
legend  say  that  Maui  was  chasing  a  boy  and  girl  in 
Honolii  gulch,  Hawaii.  The  girl  climbed  a  bread- 
fruit tree.  Maui  changed  himself  into  an  eel  and 
stretched  himself  along  the  side  of  the  trunk  of  the 
tree.  The  tree  stretched  itself  upward  and  Maui  failed 
to  reach  the  girl.  A  priest  came  along  and  struck  the 
eel  and  killed  it,  and  so  Maui  died.  This  is  evidently 
a  changed  form  of  the  legend  of  Maui  and  the  long 
eel.  Another  Hawaiian  fragment  approaches  very  near 
to  the  beautiful  New  Zealand  myth.  The  Hawaiians 
said  that  Maui  attempted  to  tear  a  mountain  apart. 
He  wrenched  a  great  hole  in  the  side.  Then  the  ele- 
paio  bird  sang  and  the  charm  was  broken.    The  cleft 

130 


in  the  mountain  could  not  be  enlarged.  If  the  story 
could  be  completed  it  would  not  be  strange  if  the 
death  of  Maui  came  with  this  failure  to  open  the 
path  through  the  mountain. 

The  Hervey  Islands  say  that  after  Maui  fished  up 
the  islands  his  hook  was  thrown  into  the  heavens  and 
became  the  curved  tail  of  the  constellation  of  stars 
which  we  know  as  "The  Scorpion."  Then  the  people 
became  angry  with  Maui  and  threw  him  up  into  the 
sky  and  his  body  is  still  thought  to  be  hanging  among 
the  stars  of  the  scorpion. 

The  Samoans,  according  to  Turner,  say  that  Maui 
went  fishing  and  tried  to  catch  the  land  under  the 
seas  and  pull  it  to  the  surface.  Finally  an  island  ap- 
peared, but  the  people  living  on  it  were  angry  with 
Maui  and  drove  himi  away  into  the  heavens. 

As  he  leaped  from  the  island  it  separated  into  two 
parts.  Thus  the  Samoans  account  for  the  origin  of 
two  of  their  islands  and  also  for  the  passing  away  of 
Maui  from  the  earth. 

The  natives  of  New  Zealand  have  many  myths 
concerning  the  death  of  Maui.  Each  tribe  tells  the 
story  with  such  variations  as  would  be  expected  when 
the  fact  is  noted  that  these  tribes  have  preserved  their 
individuality  through  many  generations.  The  sub- 
stance of  the  myth,  however,  is  the  same. 

In  Maui's  last  days  he  longed  for  the  victory  over 
death.     His   innate  love  of  life  led  him  to  face  the 

131 


possibility  of  escaping  and  overcoming  the  relentless 
enemy  of  mankind  and  thus  bestow  the  boon  of  death- 
lessness  upon  his  fellow-men.  He  had  been  success- 
ful over  and  over  again  in  his  contests  with  both  gods 
and  men.  When  man  was  created,  he  stood  erect, 
but,  according  to  an  Hawaiian  myth,  had  jointless 
arms  and  limbs.  A  web  of  skin  connected  and  fastened 
tightly  the  arms  to  the  body  and  the  legs  to  each 
other.  "Maui  was  angry  at  this  motionless  statue  and 
took  him  and  broke  his  legs  at  ankle,  knee  and  hip 
and  then,  tearing  them  and  the  arms  from  the  body, 
destroyed  the  web.  Then  he  broke  the  arms  at  the 
elbow  and  shoulder.  Then  man  could  move  from 
place  to  place,  but  he  had  neither  fingers  or  toes." 
Here  comes  the  most  ancient  Polynesian  statement  of 
the  theory  of  evolution:  "Hunger  impelled  man  to 
seek  his  food  in  the  mountains,  where  his  toes  were 
cut  out  by  the  brambles  in  climbing,  and  his  fingers 
were  also  formed  by  the  sharp  splinters  of  the  bamboo 
while  searching  with  his  arms  for  food  in  the  ground." 

It  was  not  strange  that  Maui  should  feel  self-con- 
fident when  considering  the  struggle  for  immortality 
as  a  gift  to  be  bestowed  upon  mankind.  And  yet  his 
father  warned  him  that  his  time  of  failure  would 
surely  come. 

White,  who  has  collected  many  of  the  myths  and 
legends  of  New  Zealand,  states  that  after  Maui  had 
ill-treated    Mahu-ika,   his    grandmother,   the   goddess 

132 


and  guardian  of  fire  in  the  under-world,  his  father 
and  mother  tried  to  teach  him  to  do  differently.  But 
he  refused  to  listen.     Then  the  father  said : 

"You  heard  our  instructions,  but  please  yourself 
and  persist  for  life  or  death." 

Maui  replied:  "What  do  I  care?  Do  you  think  I 
shall  cease?     Rather  I  will  persist  forever  and  ever." 

Then  his  father  said:  "There  is  one  so  powerful 
that  no  tricks  can  be  of  any  avail." 

Maui  asked:  "By  what  shall  I  be  overcome?"  The 
answer  was  that  one  of  his  ancestors,  Hine-nui-te-po 
(Great  Hine  of  the  night),  the  guardian  of  life,  would 
overcome  him. 

When  Maui  fished  islands  out  of  the  deep  seas,  it 
was  said  that  Hine  made  her  home  on  the  outer  edge 
of  one  of  the  outermost  islands.  There  the  glow  of 
the  setting  sun  lighted  the  thatch  of  her  house  and 
covered  it  with  glorious  colors.  There  Great  Hine 
herself  stood  flashing  and  sparkling  on  the  edge  of 
the  horizon. 

Maui,  in  these  last  days  of  his  life,  looked  toward 
the  west  and  said:  "Let  us  investigate  this  matter 
and  learn  whether  life  or  death  shall  follow." 

The  father  replied:  "There  is  evil  hanging  over 
you.  When  I  chanted  the  invocation  of  your  child- 
hood, when  you  were  made  sacred  and  guarded  by 
charms,  I  forgot  a  part  of  the  ceremony.  And  for 
this  you  are  to  die." 

133 


Then  Maui  said,  "Will  this  be  by  Hine-nui-te-po? 
What  is  she  like?" 

The  father  said  that  the  flashing  eyes  they  could 
see  in  the  distance  were  dark  as  greenstone,  the  teeth 
were  as  sharp  as  volcanic  glass,  her  mouth  was  large 
like  a  fish,  and  her  hair  was  floating  in  the  air  like 
sea-weed. 

One  of  the  legends  of  New  Zealand  says  that  Maui 
and  his  brothers  went  toward  the  west,  to  the  edge 
of  the  horizon,  where  they  saw  the  goddess  of  the 
night.  Light  was  flashing  from  her  body.  Here  they 
found  a  great  pit — the  home  of  night.  Maui  entered 
the  pit — telling  his  brothers  not  to  laugh.  He  passed 
through  and  turning  about  started  to  return.  The 
brothers  laughed  and  the  walls  of  night  closed  in 
around  him  and  held  him  till  he  died. 

The  longer  legend  tells  how  Maui  after  his  conver- 
sation with  his  father,  remembered  his  conflict  with 
the  moon.  He  had  tied  her  so  that  she  could  not  es- 
cape, but  was  compelled  to  bathe  in  the  waters  of  life 
and  return  night  after  night  lest  men  should  be  in 
darkness  when  evening  came, 

Maui  said  to  the  goddess  of  the  moon:  "Let  death 
be  short.  As  the  moon  dies  and  returns  with  new 
strength,  so  let  men  die  and  revive  again." 

But  she  replied:  "Let  death  be  very  long,  that  man 
may  sigh  and  sorrow.     When  man  dies,  let  him  go 

134 


into  darkness,  become  like  earth,  that  those  he  leaves 
behind  may  weep  and  wail  and  mourn." 

Maui  did  not  lay  aside  his  purpose,  but,  according 
to  the  New  Zealand  story,  "did  not  wish  men  to  die, 
but  to  live  forever.  Death  appeared  degrading  and 
an  insult  to  the  dignity  of  man.  Man  ought  to  die 
like  the  moon,  which  dips  in  the  life-giving  waters  of 
Kane  and  is  renewed  again,  or  like  the  sun,  which 
daily  sinks  into  the  pit  of  night  and  with  renewed 
strength  rises  in  the  morning." 

Maui  sought  the  home  of  Hine-nui-te-po — the 
guardian  of  life.  He  heard  her  order  her  attendants 
to  watch  for  any  one  approaching  and  capture  all 
who  came  walking  upright  as  a  man.  He  crept  past 
the  attendants  on  hands  and  feet,  found  the  place  of 
life,  stole  some  of  the  food  of  the  goddess  and  re- 
turned home.  He  showed  the  food  to  his  brothers 
and  persuaded  them  to  go  with  him  into  the  darkness 
of  the  night  of  death.  On  the  way  he  changed  them 
into  the  form  of  birds.  In  the  evening  they  came  to 
the  house  of  the  goddess  on  the  island  long  before 
fished  up  from  the  seas. 

Maui  warned  the  birds  to  refrain  from  making  any 
noise  while  he  made  the  supreme  effort  of  his  life. 
He  was  about  to  enter  upon  his  struggle  for  immor- 
tality. He  said  to  the  birds :  "If  I  go  into  the  stom- 
ach of  this  woman,  do  not  laugh  until  I  have  gone 


135 


through  her,  and  come  out  again  at  her  mouth ;  then 
you  can  laugh  at  me." 

His  friends  said :  "You  will  be  killed."  Maui  re- 
plied: "If  you  laugh  at  me  when  I  have  only  en- 
tered her  stomach  I  shall  be  killed,  but  if  I  have  passed 
through  her  and  come  out  of  her  mouth  I  shall  escape 
and  Hine-nui-te-po  will  die." 

His  friends  called  out  to  him :  "Go  then.  The  de- 
cision is  with  you." 

Hine  was  sleeping  soundly.  The  flashes  of  light- 
ning had  all  ceased.  The  sunlight  had  almost  passed 
away  and  the  house  lay  in  quiet  gloom.  Maui  came 
near  to  the  sleeping  goddess.  Her  large,  fish-like 
mouth  was  open  wide.  He  put  off  his  clothing  and 
prepared  to  pass  through  the  ordeal  of  going  to  the 
hidden  source  of  life,  to  tear  it  out  of  the  body  of  its 
guardian  and  carry  it  back  with  himi  to  mankind.  He 
stood  in  all  the  glory  of  savage  manhood.  His  body 
was  splendidly  marked  by  the  tattoo-bones,  and  now 
well  oiled  shone  and  sparkled  in  the  last  rays  of  the 
setting  sun. 

He  leaped  through  the  mouth  of  the  enchanted  one 
and  entered  her  stomach,  weapon  in  hand,  to  take  out 
her  heart,  the  vital  principle  which  he  knew  had  its 
home  somewhere  within  her  being.  He  found  im- 
mortality on  the  other  side  of  death.     He  turned  to 


136 


come  back  again  into  life  when  suddenly  a  little  bird 
(the  Pata-tai)  laughed  in  a  clear,  shrill  tone,  and 
Great  Hine,  through  whose  mouth  Maui  was  passing, 
awoke.  Her  sharp,  obsidian  teeth  closed  with  a  snap 
upon  Maui,  cutting  his  body  in  the  center.  Thus 
Maui  entered  the  gates  of  death,  but  was  unable  to 
return,  and  death  has  ever  since  been  victor  over  re- 
bellious men.     The  natives  have  the  saying: 

"If  Maui  had  not  died,  he  could  have  restored  to 
life  all  who  had  gone  before  him,  and  thus  succeeded 
in  destroying  death." 

Maui's  brothers  took  the  dismembered  body  and 
buried  it  in  a  cave  called  Te-ana-i-hana,  "The  cave 
dug  out,"  possibly  a  prepared  burial  place. 

Maui's  wife  made  war  upon  the  spirits,  the  gods, 
and  killed  as  many  as  she  could  to  avenge  her  hus- 
band's death.  One  of  the  old  native  poets  of  New 
Zealand,  in  chanting  the  story  to  Mr.  White,  said: 
"But  though  Maui  was  killed,  his  offspring  survived. 
Some  of  these  are  at  Hawa-i-i-ki  and  some  at  Aotea- 
roa  (New  Zealand),  but  the  greater  part  of  them  re- 
mained at  Hawa-i-ki.  This  history  was  handed  down 
by  the  generations  of  our  ancestors  of  ancient  times,  and 
we  continue  to  rehearse  it  to  our  children,  with  our  in- 
cantations and  genealogies,  and  all  other  matters  relating 
to  our  race." 


137 


"But  death  is  nothing  new, 

Death   is,   and    has   been   ever  since    old   Maui   died. 

Then  Pata-tai  laughed  loud 

And  woke  the  goblin-god, 

Who  severed  him  in  two,  and  shut  him  in, 

So  dusk  of  eve  came  on." 

— Maori  death  chant.  New  Zealand. 


138 


XII. 
HINA  OF  HILO. 

^ji^INA  is  not  an  uncommon  name  in  Hawaiian 
Ifffl  genealogies.  It  is  usually  accompanied  by 
^^r  some  adjective  which  explains  or  identifies  the 
person  to  whom  the  name  is  given.  In  Hawaii  the 
name  Hina  is  feminine.  This  is  also  true  throughout 
all  Polynesia  except  in  a  few  cases  where  Hina  is 
reckoned  as  a  man  with  supernatural  attributes.  Even 
in  these  cases  it  is  apparent  that  the  legend  has  been 
changed  from  its  original  form  as  it  has  been  carried 
to  small  islands  by  comparatively  ignorant  people 
when  moving  away  from  their  former  homes. 

Hina  is  a  Polynesian  goddess  whose  story  is  very 
interesting — one  worthy  of  study  when  comparing 
the  legends  of  the  island  groups  of  the  Pacific.  The 
Hina  of  Hilo  is  the  same  as  the  goddess  of  that  name 
most  widely  known  throughout  Polynesia — and  yet 
her  legends  are  located  by  the  ancient  Hawaiians  in 
Hilo,   as   if   that   place   were   her   only   home.       The 

139 


legends  are  so  old  that  the  Havvaiians  have  forgotten 
their  origin  in  other  lands.  The  stories  were  brought 
with  the  immigrants  who  settled  on  the  Hilo  coast. 
Thus  the  stories  found  their  final  location  with  the 
families  who  brought  them.  There  are  three  Ha- 
waiian Hinas  practically  distinct  from  each  other,  al- 
though a  supernatural  element  is  connected  with  each 
one.  Hina  who  was  stolen  from  Hawaii  by  a  chief 
of  the  Island  of  Molokai  was  an  historical  character, 
although  surrounded  by  mythical  stories.  Another 
Hina,  who  was  the  wife  of  Kuula,  the  fish  god,  was 
pre-eminently  a  local  deity,  having  no  real  connection 
with  the  legends  of  the  other  islands  of  the  Pacific,  al- 
though sometimes  the  stories  told  concerning  her 
have  not  been  kept  entirely  distinct  from  the  legends 
of  the  Hina  of  Hilo. 

The  Hilo  Hina  was  the  true  legendary  character 
closely  connected  with  all  Polynesia.  The  stories 
about  her  are  of  value  not  simply  as  legends,  but  as 
traditions  closely  uniting  the  Hawaiian  Islands  with 
the  island  groups  thousands  of  miles  distant.  The 
Wailuku  river,  which  flows  through  the  town  of  Hilo, 
has  its  own  peculiar  and  weird  beauty.  For  males  it 
is  a  series  of  waterfalls  and  rapids.  It  follows  the 
course  of  an  ancient  lava  flow,  sometimes  forcing  its 
way  under  bridges  of  lava,  thus  forming  what  are 
called  boiling  pots,  and  sometimes  pouring  in  mas- 
sive sheets  over  the  edges  of  precipices  which  never 

140 


disintegrate.  By  the  side  of  this  river  Hina's  son 
Maui  had  his  lands.  In  the  very  bed  of  the  river,  in 
a  cave  under  one  of  the  largest  falls,  Hina  made  her 
own  home,  concealed  from  the  world  by  the  silver 
veil  of  falling  water  and  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  con- 
tinual roar  of  the  flood  falling  into  the  deep  pool  be- 
low. By  the  side  of  this  river,  the  legends  say,  she 
pounded  her  tapa  and  prepared  her  food.  Here  were 
the  small,  graceful  mamake  and  the  coarser  wauke 
trees,  from  which  the  bark  was  stripped  with  which 
she  made  tapa  cloth.  Branches  were  cut  or  broken 
from  these  and  other  trees  whose  bark  was  fit  for  the 
purpose.  These  branches  were  well  soaked  until  the 
bark  was  removed  easily.  Then  the  outer  bark  was 
scraped  off,  leaving  only  the  pliable  inner  bark.  The 
days  were  very  short  and  there  was  no  time  for  rest 
while  making  tapa  cloth.  Therefore,  as  soon  as  the 
morning  light  reddened  the  clouds,  Hina  would  take 
her  calabash  filled  with  water  to  pour  upon  the  bark, 
and  her  little  bundle  of  round  clubs  (the  hohoa)  and 
her  four-sided  m'allets  (the  i-e-kuku)  and  hasten  to 
the  sacred  spot  where,  with  chants  and  incantations, 
the  tapa  was  made. 

The  bark  was  well  soaked  in  the  water  all  the  days 
of  the  process  of  tapa  making.  Hina  took  small  bun- 
dles of  the  wet  inner  bark  and  laid  them  on  the  kua 
or  heavy  tapa  board,  pounding  them  together  into  a 
pulpy  mass  with  her  round  clubs.     Then  using  the 

141 


four-sided  mallets,  she  beat  this  pulp  into  thin  sheets. 
Beautiful  tapa,  soft  as  silk,  was  made  by  adding  pulpy 
mass  to  pulpy  mass  and  beating  it  day  after  day  until 
the  fibres  were  lost  and  a  sheet  of  close-woven  bark 
cloth  was  formed.  Although  Hina  was  a  goddess  and 
had  a  family  possessing  miraculous  power,  it  never 
entered  the  mind  of  the  Hawaiian  legend  tellers  to 
endow  her  with  ease  in  producing  wonderful  results. 
The  legends  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Islands  show 
more  imagination.  They  say  that  Ina  (Hina)  was 
such  a  wonderful  artist  in  making  beautiful  tapas  that 
she  was  placed  in  the  skies,  where  she  beat  out  glist- 
ening fine  tapas,  the  white  and  glorious  clouds.  When 
she  stretches  these  clouds  sheets  out  to  dry,  she 
places  stones  along  the  edges,  so  that  the  fierce  winds 
of  the  heavens  shall  not  blow  them  away.  When  she 
throws  these  stones  aside,  the  skies  reverberate  with 
thunder.  When  she  rolls  her  cloud  sheets  of  tapa  to- 
gether, the  folds  glisten  with  flashes  of  light  and  light- 
ning leaps  from  sheet  to  sheet. 

The  Hina  of  Hilo  was  grieved  as  she  toiled  be- 
cause after  she  had  pounded  the  sheets  out  so  thin 
that  they  were  ready  to  be  dried,  she  found  it  almost 
impossible  to  secure  the  necessary  aid  of  the  sun  in 
the  drying  process.  She  would  rise  as  soon  as  she 
could  see  and  hasten  to  spread  out  the  tapa  made  the 
day  before.  But  the  sun  always  hurried  so  fast  that 
the  sheets  could  not  dry.     He  leaped  from  the  ocean 

142 


waters  in  the  earth,  rushed  across  the  heavens  and 
plunged  into  the  dark  waters  again  on  the  other  side 
of  the  island  before  she  could  even  turn  her  tapas  so 
that  they  might  dry  evenly.  This  legend  of  very 
short  days  is  strange  because  of  its  place  not  only 
among  the  myths  of  Hawaii  but  also  because  it  be- 
longs to  practically  all  the  tropical  islands  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  In  Tahiti  the  legends  said  that  the 
sun  rushed  across  the  sky  very  rapidly.  The  days 
were  too  short  for  fruits  to  ripen  or  for  work  to  be 
finished.  In  Samoa  the  "mats"  made  by  Sina  had  no 
time  to  dry.  The  ancestors  of  the  Polynesians  some- 
time somewhere  must  have  been  in  the  region  of  short 
days  and  long  nights.  Hina  found  that  her  incanta- 
tions had  no  influence  with  the  sun.  She  could  not 
prevail  upon  him  to  go  slower  and  give  her  more  time 
for  the  completion  of  her  task.  Then  she  called  on 
her  powerful  son,  Maui-ki-i-ki-i,  for  aid. 

Some  of  the  legends  of  the  Island  Maui  say  that 
Hina  dwelt  by  the  sea  coast  of  that  island  near  the 
high  hill  Kauwiki  at  the  foot  of  the  great  mountain 
Haleakala,  House  of  the  Sun,  and  that  there,  facing 
the  southern  skies  under  the  most  favorable  condi- 
tions for  making  tapa,  she  found  the  days  too  short 
for  the  tapa  to  dry.  At  the  present  time  the  Hawaiians 
point  out  a  long,  narrow  stone  not  far  from  the  surf 
and  almost  below  the  caves  in  which  the  great  queen 
Kaahumanu  spent  the  earliest  days  of  her  childhood. 

143 


This  stone  is  said  to  be  the  kua  or  tapa  board  on 
which  Hina  pounded  the  bark  for  her  cloth.  Other 
legends  of  that  same  island  locate  Hina's  home  on 
the  northeast  coast  near  Pohakuloa. 

The  Hilo  legends,  however,  do  not  deem  it  neces- 
sary that  Hina  and  Maui  should  have  their  home 
across  the  wide  channel  which  divides  the  Island  Ha- 
waii from  the  Island  Maui  in  order  to  wage  war  suc- 
cessfully with  the  inconsiderate  sun.  Hina  remained 
in  her  home  by  the  Wailuku  river,  sometimes  resting 
in  her  cave  under  Rainbow  Falls,  and  sometimes  work- 
ing on  the  river  bank,  trusting  her  powerful  son  Maui 
to  make  the  swiftly-passing  lord  of  day  go  more 
slowly. 

Maui  possessed  many  supernatural  powers.  He 
could  assume  the  form  of  birds  or  insects.  He  could 
call  on  the  winds  to  do  his  will,  or  he  could,  if  he 
wished,  traverse  miles  with  a  single  stride.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  the  Hilo  legends  differ  as  to  the 
way  in  which  Ma-ui  the  man  passed  over  to  Mau-i 
the  island.  One  legend  says  that  he  crossed  the  chan- 
nel, miles  wide,  with  a  single  step.  Another  says  that 
he  launched  his  canoe  and  with  a  breath  the  god  of 
the  winds  placed  him  on  the  opposite  coast,  while 
another  story  says  that  Maui  assumed  the  form  of  a 
white  chicken,  which  flew  over  the  waters  to  Hale- 
akala.  Here  he  took  ropes  made  from  the  fibre  of 
trees  and  vines  and  lassoed  the  sun  while  it  climbed 

144 


the  side  of  the  mountain  and  entered  the  great  crater 
which  hollows  out  the  summit.  The  sun  came  through 
a  large  gap  in  the  eastern  side  of  the  crater,  rushing 
along  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Then  Maui  threw  his 
lassoes  one  after  the  other  over  the  sun's  legs  (the 
rays  of  light),  holding  him  fast  «nd  breaking  off  some 
of  them.  With  a  magic  club  Maui  struck  the  face  of 
the  sun  again  and  again.  At  last,  wounded  and  weary, 
and  also  lim/ping  on  its  broken  legs,  the  sun  promised 
Maui  to  go  slowly  forevermore. 

"La"  among  the  Polynesians,  like  the  word  "Ra" 
among  the  Egyptians,  means  "sun"  or  "day"  or  "sun- 
god" — and  the  mountain  where  the  son  of  Hina  won 
his  victory  over  the  monster  of  the  heavens  has  long 
borne  the  name  Hale-a-ka-la,  or  House  of  the  Sun. 

Hina  of  Hilo  soon  realized  the  wonderful  deed 
which  Maui  had  done.  She  spread  out  her  fine  tapas 
with  songs  of  joy  and  cheerily  performed  the  task 
which  filled  the  hours  of  the  day.  The  comfort  of  sun- 
shine and  cooling  winds  came  with  great  power  into 
Hina's  life,  bringing  to  her  renewed  joy  and  beauty. 


145 


XIII. 
HINA  AND   THE  WAILUKU  RIVER. 

^■■rHERE  are  two  rivers  of  rushing,  tumbling  rapids 
ill  and  waterfalls  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  both 
^■^  bearing  the  name  of  Wailuku.  One  is  on  the 
Island  of  Maui,  flowing  out  of  a  deep  gorge  in  the 
side  of  the  extinct  volcano  lao.  Yosemite-like  preci- 
pices surround  this  majestically-walled  crater.  The 
name  lao  means  "asking  for  clouds."  The  head  of 
the  crater-valley  is  almost  always  covered  with  great 
masses  of  heavy  rain  clouds.  Out  of  the  crater  the 
massed  waters  rush  in  a  swift-flowing  streami  of  only 
four  or  five  miles,  emptying  into  Kahului  harbor.  The 
other  Wailuku  river  is  on  the  Island  of  Hawaii.  The 
snows  melt  on  the  summits  of  the  two  great  moun- 
tains, Mauna  Kea  and  Mauna  Loa.  The  water  seeps 
through  the  porous  lava  from  the  eastern  slope  of 
Mauna  Loa  and  the  southern  slope  of  Mauna  Kea, 
meeting  where  the  lava  flows  of  centuries  from  each 
mountain  have  piled  up  against  each  other.    Through 

146 


Rainbow    Falls,    Hina's    Home. 


the   fragments   of   these   volcanic   battles   the   waters 
creep  down  the  mountain  side  toward  the  sea. 

At  one  place,  a  number  of  miles  above  the  city  of 
Hilo,  the  waters  were  heard  gurgling  and  splashing 
far  below  the  surface.  Water  was  needed  for  the 
sugar  plantations,  which  modern  energy  has  estab- 
lished all  along  the  eastern  coast  of  the  large  island. 
A  tunnel  was  cut  into  the  lava,  the  underground 
stream  was  tapped — and  an  abundant  supply  of  water 
secured  and  sluiced  down  to  the  large  plantations 
below.  The  head  waters  of  the  Wailuku  river  gath- 
ered from  the  melting  snow  of  the  mountains  found 
these  channels,  which  centered  at  last  in  the  bed  of  a 
very  ancient  and  very  interesting  lava  flow.  Some- 
times breaking  forth  in  a  large,  turbulent  flood,  the 
stream  forces  its  way  over  and  around  the  huge  blocks 
of  lava  which  mark  the  course  of  the  eruption  of  long 
ago.  Sometimes  it  courses  in  a  tunnel  left  by  the 
flowing  lava  and  comes  up  from  below  in  a  series  of 
boiling  pools.  Then  again  it  falls  in  majestic  sheets 
over  high  walls  of  worn  precipices.  Several  large 
falls  and  some  very  picturesque  smaller  cascades  in- 
terspersed with  rapids  and  natural  bridges  give  to 
this  river  a  beauty  peculiarly  its  own.  The  most 
weird  of  all  the  rough  places  through  which  the  Wai- 
luku river  flows  is  that  known  as  the  basin  of  Rain- 
bow Falls  near  Hilo.  Here  Hina,  the  moon  goddess 
of  the  Polynesians,  lived  in  a  great  open  cave,  over 

147 


which  the  falls  hung  their  misty,  rainbow-tinted  veil. 
Her  son  Maui,  the  mighty  demi-god  of  Polynesia, 
supposed  by  some  writers  to  be  the  sun-god  of  the 
Polynesians,  had  extensive  lands  along  the  northern 
bank  of  the  river.  Here  among  his  cultivated  fields 
he  had  his  home,  from  which  he  went  forth  to  accom- 
plish the  wonders  attributed  to  him  in  the  legends  of 
the  Hawaiians. 

Below  the  cave  in  which  Hina  dwelt  the  river 
fought  its  way  through  a  narrow  gorge  and  then,  in 
a  series  of  many  small  falls,  descended  to  the  little 
bay,  where  its  waters  mingled  with  the  surf  of  the 
salt  sea.  Far  above  the  cave,  in  the  bed  of  the  river, 
dwelt  Kuna.  The  district  through  which  that  por- 
tion of  the  river  runs  bears  to  this  day  the  name 
"Wai-kuna"  or  "Kuna's  river."  When  the  writer  was 
talking  with  the  natives  concerning  this  part  of  the 
old  legend,  they  said  "Kuna  is  not  a  Hawaiian  word. 
It  means  something  like  a  snake  or  a  dragon,  some- 
thing we  do  not  have  in  these  islands."  This,  they 
thought,  made  the  connection  with  the  Hina  legend 
valueless  until  they  were  shown  that  Tuna  (or  kuna) 
was  the  New  Zealand  name  of  a  reptile  which  attack- 
ed Hina  and  struck  her  with  his  tail  like  a  crocodile, 
for  which  Maui  killed  him.  When  this  was  under- 
stood, the  Hawaiians  were  greatly  interested  to  give 
the  remainder  of  this  legend  and  compare  it  with  the 
New  Zealand   story.     In   New  Zealand  there  are   sev- 

148 


eral  statements  concerning  Tuna's  dwelling  place.  He 
is  sometimes  represented  as  comdng  from  a  pool  to 
attack  Hina  and  sometimes  from  a  distant  stream,  and 
sometimes  from  the  river  by  which  Hina  dwelt.  The 
Hawaiians  told  of  the  annoyances  which  Hina  en- 
dured from  Kuna  while  he  lived  above  her  home  in 
the  Wailuku.  He  would  stop  up  the  river  and  fill 
it  with  dirt  as  when  the  freshets  brought  down  the 
debris  of  the  storms  from  the  mountain  sides.  He 
would  throw  logs  and  rolling  stones  into  the  stream 
that  they  might  be  carried  over  the  falls  and  drive 
Hina  from  her  cave.  He  had  sought  Hina  in  many 
ways  and  had  been  repulsed  again  and  again  until  at 
last  hatred  took  the  place  of  all  more  kindly  feelings 
and  he  determined  to  destroy  the  divine  chiefess. 

Hina  was  frequently  left  with  but  little  protection, 
and  yet  from  her  home  in  the  cave  feared  nothing  that 
Kuna  could  do.  Precipices  guarded  the  cave  on  either 
side,  and  any  approach  of  an  enemy  through  the  fall- 
ing water  could  be  easily  thwarted.  So  her  chants 
rang  out  through  the  river  valley  even  while  floods 
swirled  around  her,  and  Kuna's  missiles  were  falling 
over  the  rocky  bed  of  the  stream  toward  her.  Kuna 
became  very  angry  and,  uttering  great  curses  and 
calling  upon  all  his  magic  forces  to  aid  him,  caught  a 
great  stone  and  at  night  hurled  it  into  the  gorge  of 
the  river  below  Hina's  home,  filling  the  river  bed  from 
bank  to  bank.     "Ah,  Hina!     Now  is  the  danger,  for 

149 


the  river  rises.    The  water  cannot  flow  away.  Awake ! 
Awake !" 

Hina  is  not  aware  of  this  evil  which  is  so  near.  The 
water  rises  and  rises,  higher  and  higher.  "Auwe ! 
Auwe!  Alas,  alas,  Hina  must  perish!"  The  water 
entered  the  opening  of  the  cave  and  began  to  creep 
along  the  floor.  Hina  cannot  fly,  except  into  the  very 
arms  of  her  great  enemy,  who  is  waiting  to  destroy 
her.  Then  Hina  called  for  Maui.  Again  and  again 
her  voice  went  out  from  the  cave.  It  pierced  through 
the  storms  and  the  clouds  which  attended  Kuna's  at- 
tack upon  her.  It  swept  along  the  side  of  the  great 
mountain.  It  crossed  the  channel  between  the  islands 
of  Hawaii  and  Maui.  Its  anguish  smote  the  side  of 
the  great  mountain  Haleakala,  where  Maui  had  been 
throwing  his  lassoes  around  the  sun  and  compelling 
himi  to  go  more  slowly.  When  Maui  heard  Hina's 
cry  for  help  echoing  from  cliff  to  cliff  and  through 
the  ravines,  he  leaped  at  once  to  rush  to  her  assistance. 

Some  say  that  Hina,  the  goddess,  had  a  cloud  ser- 
vant, the  "ao-opua,"  the  "warning  cloud,"  which  rose 
swiftly  above  the  falls  when  Hina  cried  for  aid  and 
then,  assuming  a  peculiar  shape,  stood  high  above  the 
hills  that  Maui  might  see  it.  Down  the  mountain  he 
leaped  to  his  magic  canoe.  Pushing  it  into  the  sea 
with  two  mighty  strokes  of  his  paddle  he  crossed  the 
sea  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wailuku  river.  Here  even  to 
the  present  day  lies  a  long  double  rock,  surrounded 

150 


Wailulcu  River,  the    Heme  of  Kuna. 


by  the  waters  of  the  bay,  which  the  natives  call  Ka 
waa  o  Maui,  "The  canoe  of  Mavii."  It  represents  to 
Hawaiian  thought  the  magic  canoe  with  which  Maui 
always  sailed  over  the  ocean  more  swiftly  than  any 
winds  could  carry  him.  Leaving  his  canoe,  Maui 
seized  the  magic  club  with  which  he  had  conquered 
the  sun  after  lassoing  him,  and  rushed  along  the  dry 
bed  of  the  river  to  the  place  of  danger.  Swinging  the 
club  swiftly  around  his  head,  he  struck  the  dam  hold- 
ing back  the  water  of  the  rapidly-rising  river. 

"Ah !  Nothing  can  withstand  the  magic  club.  The 
bank  around  one  end  of  the  dam  gives  way.  The  im- 
prisoned waters  leap  into  the  new  channel.  Safe  is 
Hina  the  goddess." 

Kuna  heard  the  crash  of  the  club  against  the  stones 
of  the  river  bank  and  fled  up  the  river  to  his  home  in 
the  hidden  caves  by  the  pools  in  the  river  bed.  Maui 
rushed  up  the  river  to  punish  Kuna-mo-o  for  the 
trouble  he  had  caused  Hina.  When  he  cam^e  to  the 
place  where  the  dragon  was  hidden  under  deep  waters, 
he  took  his  magic  spear  and  thrust  it  through  the  dirt 
and  lava  rocks  along  one  side  of  the  river,  making  a 
long  hole,  through  which  the  waters  rushed,  revealing 
Kuna-mo-o's  hiding  place.  This  place  of  the  spear 
thrust  is  known  among  the  Hawaiians  as  Ka  puka 
a  Maui,  "the  door  made  by  Maui."  It  is  also  known 
as  "The  natural  bridge  of  the  AVailuku  river." 

Kuna-mo-o  fled  to  his  different  hiding  places,  but 

151 


Maui  broke  up  the  river  bed  and  drove  the  dragon 
out  from  every  one,  following  him  from  place  to  place 
as  he  fled  down  the  river.  Apparently  this  is  a  legend- 
ary account  of  earthquakes.  At  last  Kuna-mo-o  found 
what  seemed  to  be  a  safe  hiding  place  in  a  series  of 
deep  pools,  but  Maui  poured  a  lava  flow  into  the  river. 
He  threw  red-hot  burning  stones  into  the  water  until 
the  pools  were  boiling  and  the  steam  was  rising  in 
clouds.  Kuna  uttered  incantation  after  incantation, 
but  the  water  scalded  and  burned  him.  Dragon  as 
he  was,  his  hard,  tough  skin  was  of  no  avail.  The 
pain  was  becoming  unbearable.  With  cries  to  his 
gods  he  leaped  from  the  pools  and  fled  down  the  river. 
The  waters  of  the  pools  are  no  longer  scalding,  but 
they  have  never  lost  the  tumbling,  tossing,  foaming, 
boiling  swirl  which  Maui  gave  to  them  when  he 
threw  into  them  the  red-hot  stones  with  which  he 
hoped  to  destroy  Kuna,  and  they  are  known  today  as 
"The  Boiling  Pots." 

Sorn-e  versions  of  the  legend  say  that  Maui  poured 
boiling  water  in  the  river  and  sent  it  in  swift  pursuit 
of  Kuna,  driving  him  from  point  to  point  and  scalding 
his  life  out  of  him.  Others  say  that  Maui  chased  the 
dragon,  striking  him  again  and  again  with  his  conse- 
crated weapons,  following  Kuna  down  from  falls  to 
falls  until  he  came  to  the  place  where  Hina  dwelt. 
Then,  feeling  that  there  was  little  use  in  flight,  Kuna 
battled  with  Maui.     His  struggles  were  of  no  avail. 

152 


He  was  forced  over  the  falls  into  the  stream  below. 
Hina  and  her  women  encouraged  Maui  by  their 
chants  and  strengthened  him  by  the  most  powerful 
incantations  with  which  they  were  acquainted.  Great 
was  their  joy  when  they  beheld  Kuna's  ponderous 
body  hurled  over  the  falls.  Eagerly  they  watched  the 
dragon  as  the  swift  waters  swept  him  against  the  dam 
with  which  he  had  hoped  to  destroy  Hina;  and  when 
the  whirling  waves  caught  him  and  dashed  him 
through  the  new  channel  made  by  Maui's  magic  club, 
they  rejoiced  and  sang  the  praise  of  the  maghty  war- 
rior who  had  saved  them.  Maui  had  rushed  along  the 
bank  of  the  river  with  tremendous  strides  overtak- 
ing the  dragon  as  he  was  rolled  over  and  over  among 
the  small  waterfalls  near  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Here 
Maui  again  attacked  Kuna,  at  last  beating  the  life  out 
of  his  body.  "Moo-Kuna"  was  the  name  given  by  the 
Hawaiians  to  the  dragon.  "Moo"  means  anything  in 
lizard  shape,  but  Kuna  was  unlike  any  lizard  known 
in  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Moo  Kuna  is  the  name 
sometimes  given  to  a  long  black  stone  lying  like  an 
island  in  the  waters  between  the  small  falls  of  the 
river.  As  one  who  calls  attention  to  this  legendary 
black  stone  says :  "As  if  he  were  not  dead  enough  al- 
ready, every  big  freshet  in  the  stream  beats  him  and 
pounds  him  and  drowns  him  over  and  over  as  he 
would  have  drowned  Hina."  A  New  Zealand  legend 
relates  a  conflict  of  incantations,  somewhat  like  the 

153 


filling  in  of  the  Wailuku  river  by  Kuna,  and  the 
cleaving  of  a  new  channel  by  Maui  with  the  different 
use  of  means.  In  New  Zealand  the  river  is  closed  by 
the  use  of  powerful  incantations  and  charms  and  re- 
opened by  the  use  of  those  more  powerful. 

In  the  Hervey  Islands,  Tuna,  the  god  of  eels,  loved 
Ina  (Hina)  and  finally  died  for  her,  giving  his  head 
to  be  buried.  Fromi  this  head  sprang  two  cocoanut 
trees,  bearing  fruit  marked  with  Tuna's  eyes  and 
mouth. 

In  Samoa  the  battle  was  between  an  owl  and  a 
serpent.  The  owl  conquered  by  calling  in  the  aid  of 
a  friend. 

This  story  of  Hina  apparently  goes  far  back  in  the 
traditions  of  Polynesians,  even  to  their  ancient  home 
in  Hawaiki,  from  which  it  was  taken  by  one  branch 
of  the  family  to  New  Zealand  and  by  another  to  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  and  other  groups  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  The  dragon  may  even  be  a  remembrance  of 
the  days  when  the  Polynesians  were  supposed  to  dwell 
by  the  banks  of  the  River  Ganges  in  India,  when  croc- 
odiles were  dangerous  enemies  and  heroes  saved  fam- 
ilies from  their  destructive  depredations. 


154 


XIV. 
GHOSTS  OF  THE  HILO  HILLS. 

^bbtHE  legends  about  Hina  and  her  famous  son  Maui 
il  and  her  less  widely  known  daughters  are  com- 
^■^  mon  property  among  the  natives  of  the  beau- 
tiful little  city  of  Hilo.  One  of  these  legends  of  more 
than  ordinary  interest  finds  its  location  in  the  three 
small  hills  back  of  Hilo  toward  the  mountains. 

These  hills  are  small  craters  connected  with  some 
ancient  lava  flow  of  unusual  violence.  The  eruption 
must  have  started  far  up  on  the  slopes  of  Mauna  Loa. 
As  it  sped  down  toward  the  sea  it  met  some  obstruc- 
tion which,  although  overwhelmed,  checked  the  flow 
and  caused  a  great  mass  of  cinders  and  ashes  to  be 
thrown  out  until  a  large  hill  with  a  hollow  crater  was 
built  up,  covering  many  acres  of  ground. 

Soon  the  lava  found  another  vent  and  then  another 
obstruction  and  a  second  and  then  a  third  hill  were 
formed  nearer  the  sea.  These  hills  or  extinct  craters 
bear  the  names  Halai,  Opeapea  and  Puu  Honu.  They 

155 


are  not  far  from  the  Wailuku  river,  famous  for  its 
picturesque  waterfalls  and  also  for  the  legends  which 
are  told  along  its  banks.  Here  Maui  had  his  lands 
overlooking  the  steep  blufifs.  Here  in  a  cave  under 
the  Rainbow  Falls  was  the  home  of  Hina,  the  mother 
of  Maui,  according  to  the  Hawaiian  stories.  Other 
parts  of  the  Pacific  sometimes  make  Hina  Maui's  wife, 
and  sometimes  a  goddess  from  whom  he  descended. 
In  the  South  Sea  legends  Hina  was  thought  to  have 
married  the  moon.  Her  home  was  in  the  skies,  where 
she  wove  beautiful  tapa  cloths  (the  clouds),  which 
were  bright  and  glistening,  so  that  when  she  rolled 
them  up  flashes  of  light  (cloud  lightning)  could  be 
seen  on  the  earth.  She  laid  heavy  stones  on  the  cor- 
ners of  these  tapas,  but  sometimes  the  stones  rolled 
ofif  and  made  the  thunder.  Hina  of  the  Rainbow  Falls 
was  a  famous  tapa  maker  whose  tapa  was  the  cause  of 
Maui's  conflict  with  the  sun. 

Hina  had  several  daughters,  four  of  whose  names 
are  given:  Hina  Ke  Ahi,  Hina  Ke  Kai,  Hina  Ma- 
huia,  and  Hina  Kuluua.  Each  name  marked  the  pe- 
culiar "mana"  or  divine  gift  which  Hina,  the  mother, 
had  bestowed  upon  her  daughters. 

Hina  Ke  Ahi  meant  the  Hina  who  had  control  of 
fire.  This  name  is  sometimes  given  to  Hina  the 
mother.  Hina  Ke  Kai  was  the  daughter  who  had 
power  over  the  sea.  She  was  said  to  have  been  in  a 
canoe  with  her  brother  Maui  when  he  fished  up  Co- 

156 


coanut  Island,  his  line  breaking  before  he  could  pull 
it  up  to  the  mainland  and  make  it  fast,  Hina  Kuluua 
was  the  mistress  over  the  forces  of  rain.  The  winds 
and  the  storms  were  supposed  to  obey  her  will.  Hina 
Mahuia  is  peculiarly  a  name  connected  with  the  legends 
of  the  other  island  groups  of  the  Pacific.  Mahuia  or 
Mafuie  was  a  god  or  goddess  of  fire  all  through  Poly- 
nesia. 

The  legend  of  the  Hilo  hills  pertains  especially  to 
Hina  Ke  Ahi  and  Hina  Kuluua.  Hina  the  mother 
gave  the  hill  Plalai  to  Hina  Ke  Ahi  and  the  hill  Puu 
Honu  to  Hina  Kuluua  for  their  families  and  de- 
pendents. 

The  hills  were  of  rich  soil  and  there  was  much  rain. 
Therefore,  for  a  long  time,  the  two  daughters  had 
plenty  of  food  for  themselves  and  their  people,  but  at 
last  the  days  were  like  fire  and  the  sky  had  no  rain  in 
it.  The  taro  planted  on  the  hillsides  died.  The  ba- 
nanas and  sugar  cane  and  sweet  potatoes  withered 
and  the  fruit  on  the  trees  was  blasted.  The  people 
were  faint  because  of  hunger,  and  the  shadow  of  death 
was  over  the  land.  Hina  Ke  Ahi  pitied  her  suffering 
friends  and  determined  to  provide  food  for  them. 
Slowly  her  people  labored  at  her  command.  Over 
they  went  to  the  banks  of  the  river  course,  which  was 
only  the  bed  of  an  ancient  lava  stream,  over  which 
no  water  was  flowing;  the  famished  laborers  toiled, 
gathering    and    carrying   back    whatever   wood    they 

157 


could  find,  then  up  the  mountain  side  to  the  great  koa 
and  ohia  forests,  gathering  their  burdens  of  fuel  ac- 
cording to  the  wishes  of  their  chiefess. 

Their  sorcerers  planted  charms  along  the  way  and 
uttered  incantations  to  ward  off  the  danger  of  failure. 
The  priests  offered  sacrifices  and  prayers  for  the  safe 
and  successful  return  of  the  burden-bearers.  After 
many  days  the  great  quantity  of  wood  desired  by  the 
goddess  was  piled  up  by  the  side  of  the  Halai  Hill. 

Then  came  the  days  of  digging  out  the  hill  and  mak- 
ing a  great  imu  or  cooking  oven  and  preparing  it 
with  stones  and  wood.  Large  quantities  of  wood  were 
thrown  into  the  place.  Stones  best  fitted  for  retain- 
ing heat  were  gathered  and  the  fires  kindled.  When 
the  stones  were  hot,  Hina  Ke  Ahi  directed  the  people 
to  arrange  the  imu  in  its  proper  order  for  cooking  the 
materials  for  a  great  feast,  A  place  was  made  for 
sweet  potatoes,  another  for  taro,  another  for  pigs  and 
another  for  dogs.  All  the  form  of  preparing  the  food 
for  cooking  was  passed  through,  but  no  real  food  was 
laid  on  the  stones.  Then  Hina  told  them  to  make  a 
place  in  the  imu  for  a  human  sacrifice.  Probably  out 
of  every  imu  of  the  long  ago  a  small  part  of  the  food 
was  offered  to  the  gods,  and  there  may  have  been  a 
special  place  in  the  imu  for  that  part  of  the  food  to 
be  cooked.  At  any  rate  Hina  had  this  oven  so  built 
that  the  people  understood  that  a  remarkable  sacrifice 


158 


would  be  offered  in  it  to  the  gods,  who  for  some  rea- 
son had  sent  the  famine  upon  the  people. 

Human  sacrifices  were  frequently  offered  by  the 
Hawaiians  even  after  the  days  of  the  coming  of  Cap- 
tain Cook.  A  dead  body  was  supposed  to  be  accept- 
able to  the  gods  when  a  chief's  house  was  built,  when 
a  chief's  new  canoe  was  to  be  made  or  when  temple 
walls  were  to  be  erected  or  victories  celebrated.  The 
bodies  of  the  people  belonged  to  the  will  of  the  chief. 
Therefore  it  was  in  quiet  despair  that  the  workmen 
obeyed  Hina  Ke  Ahi  and  prepared  the  place  for  sac- 
rifice. It  might  mean  their  own  holocaust  as  an  offer- 
ing to  the  gods.  At  last  Hina  Ke  Ahi  bade  the  la- 
borers cease  their  work  and  stand  by  the  side  of  the 
oven  ready  to  cover  it  with  the  dirt  which  had  been 
thrown  out  and  piled  up  by  the  side.  The  people  stood 
by,  not  knowing  upon  whom'  the  blow  might  fall. 

But  Hina  Ke  Ahi  was  "Hina  the  kind,"  and  al- 
though she  stood  before  them  robed  in  royal  majesty 
and  power,  still  her  face  was  full  of  pity  and  love. 
Her  voice  melted  the  hearts  of  her  retainers  as  she 
bade  them  carefully  follow  her  directions. 

"O  my  people.  Where  are  you?  Will  you  obey 
and  do  as  I  command?  This  imu  is  my  imu.  I  shall 
lie  down  on  its  bed  of  burning  stones.  I  shall  sleep 
under  its  cover.  But  deeply  cover  me  or  I  may 
perish.    Quickly  throw  the  dirt  over  my  body.     Fear 

159 


not  the  fire.  Watch  for  three  days.  A  woman  will 
stand  by  the  imu.    Obey  her  will." 

Hina  Ke  Ahi  was  very  beautiful,  and  her  eyes 
flashed  light  like  fire  as  she  stepped  into  the  great  pit 
and  lay  down  on  the  burning  stones.  A  great  smoke 
arose  and  gathered  over  the  imu.  The  men  toiled 
rapidly,  placing  the  imu  mats  over  their  chiefess  and 
throwing  the  dirt  back  into  the  oven  until  it  was  all 
thoroughly  covered  and  the  smoke  was  quenched. 

Then  they  waited  for  the  strange,  mysterious  thing 
which  must  follow  the  sacrifice  of  this  divine  chiefess. 

Halai  hill  trembled  and  earthquakes  shook  the  land 
round  about.  The  great  heat  of  the  fire  in  the  imu 
withered  the  little  life  which  was  still  left  from  the 
famine.  Meanwhile  Hina  Ke  Ahi  was  carrying  out 
her  plan  for  securing  aid  for  her  people.  She  could 
not  be  injured  by  the  heat  for  she  was  a  goddess  of 
fire.  The  waves  of  heat  raged  around  her  as  she  sank 
down  through  the  stones  of  the  imu  into  the  under- 
ground paths  which  belonged  to  the  spirit  world. 
The  legend  says  that  Hina  made  her  appearance  in 
the  form  of  a  gushing  stream  of  water  which  would 
always  supply  the  want  of  her  adherents.  The  second 
day  passed.  Hina  was  still  journeying  underground, 
but  this  time  she  came  to  the  surface  as  a  pool  named 
Moe  A¥aa  (canoe  sleep)  much  nearer  the  sea.  The 
third  day  came  and  Hina  caused  a  great  spring  of 
sweet  water  to  burst  forth  from  the  sea  shore  in  the 

160 


very  path  of  the  ocean  surf.  This  received  the  name 
Auauwai.  Here  Hina  washed  away  all  traces  of  her 
journey  through  the  depths.  This  was  the  last  of  the 
series  of  earthquakes  and  the  appearance  of  new 
water  springs.  The  people  waited,  feeling  that  som^e 
more  wonderful  event  must  follow  the  remarkable 
experiences  of  the  three  days.  Soon  a  woman  stood 
by  the  imu,  who  commanded  the  laborers  to  dig  away 
the  dirt  and  remove  the  mats.  When  this  was  done, 
the  hungry  people  found  a  very  great  abundance  of 
food,  enough  to  supply  their  want  until  the  food 
plants  should  have  time  to  ripen  and  the  days  of  the 
famine  should  be  over. 

The  joy  of  the  people  was  great  when  they  knew 
that  their  chiefess  had  escaped  death  and  would  still 
dwell  among  them  in  comfort.  Many  were  the  songs 
sung  and  stories  told  about  the  great  famine  and  the 
success  of  the  goddess  of  fire. 

The  second  sister,  Hina  Kuluua,  the  goddess  of 
rain,  was  always  very  jealous  of  her  beautiful  sister 
Hina  Ke  Ahi,  and  many  times  sent  rain  to  put  out 
fires  which  her  sister  tried  to  kindle.  Hina  Ke  Ahi 
could  not  stand  the  rain  and  so  fled  with  her  people 
to  a  home  by  the  seaside. 

Hina  Kuluua  (or  Hina  Kuliua  as  she  was  some- 
times known  among  the  Hawaiians)  could  control  rain 
and  storms,  but  for  some  reason  failed  to  provide  a 
food  supply  for  her  people,  and  the  famine  wrought 

161 


havoc  among  them.  She  thought  of  the  stories  told 
and  songs  sung  about  her  sister  and  wished  for  the 
same  honor  for  herself.  She  commanded  her  people 
to  make  a  great  imu  for  her  in  the  hill  Puu  Honu. 
She  knew  that  a  strange  power  belonged  to  her  and 
yet,  blinded  by  jealousy,  forgot  that  rain  and  fire 
could  not  work  together.  She  planned  to  furnish  a 
great  supply  of  food  for  her  people  in  the  same  way 
in  which  her  sister  had  worked. 

The  oven  was  dug.  Stones  and  wood  were  collected 
and  the  same  ghostly  array  of  potatoes,  taro,  pig  and 
dog  prepared  as  had  been  done  before  by  her  sister. 

The  kahunas  or  priests  knew  that  Hina  Kuluua  was 
going  out  of  her  province  in  trying  to  do  as  her  sister 
had  done,  but  there  was  no  use  in  attempting  to 
change  her  plans.  Jealousy  is  self-willed  and  obsti- 
nate and  no  amount  of  reasoning  from  her  dependents 
could  have  any  influence  over  her. 

The  ordinary  incantations  were  observed,  and  Hina 
Kuluua  gave  the  same  directions  as  those  her  sister 
had  given.  The  imu  was  to  be  well  heated.  The 
make-believe  food  was  to  be  put  in  and  a  place  left 
for  her  body.  It  was  the  goddess  of  rain  making 
ready  to  lie  down  on  a  bed  prepared  for  the  goddess 
of  fire.  When  all  was  ready,  she  lay  down  on  the 
heated  stones  and  the  oven  mats  were  thrown  over 
her  and  the  ghostly  provisions.  Then  the  covering  of 
dirt  was   thrown    back    upon    the   mats   and    heated 

162 


On  Lava    Beds. 


stones,  filling  the  pit  which  had  been  dug.  The  god- 
dess of  rain  was  left  to  prepare  a  feast  for  her  people 
as  the  goddess  of  fire  had  done  for  her  followers. 

Some  of  the  legends  have  introduced  the  demi-god 
Maui  into  this  story.  The  natives  say  that  Maui  came 
to  "burn"  or  "cook  the  rain"  and  that  he  made  the 
oven  very  hot,  but  that  the  goddess  of  rain  escaped 
and  hung  over  the  hill  in  the  form  of  a  cloud.  At 
least  this  is  what  the  people  saw — not  a  cloud  of 
smoke  over  the  imu,  but  a  rain  cloud.  They  waited 
and  watched  for  such  evidences  of  underground  labor 
as  attended  the  passage  of  Hina  Ke  Ahi  through  the 
earth  from  the  hill  to  the  sea,  but  the  only  strange 
appearance  was  the  dark  rain  cloud.  They  waited 
three  days  and  looked  for  their  chiefess  to  come  in 
the  form  of  a  woman.  They  waited  another  day  and 
still  another  and  no  signs  or  wonders  were  manifest. 
Meanwhile  Maui,  changing  himself  into  a  white  bird, 
flew  up  into  the  sky  to  catch  the  ghost  of  the  goddess 
of  rain  which  had  escaped  from  the  burning  oven. 
Having  caught  this  spirit,  he  rolled  it  in  some  kapa 
cloth  which  he  kept  for  food  to  be  placed  in  an  oven 
and  carried  it  to  a  place  in  the  forest  on  the  mountain 
side  where  again  the  attempt  was  made  to  "burn  the 
rain,"  but  a  great  drop  escaped  and  sped  upward  into 
the  sky.  Again  Maui  caught  the  ghost  of  the  goddess 
and  carried  it  to  a  pali  or  precipice  below  the  great 
volcano  Kilauea,  where  he  again  tried  to  destroy  it  in 

163 


the  heat  of  a  great  lava  oven,  but  this  time  the  spirit 
escaped  and  found  a  safe  refuge  among  kukui  trees 
on  the  mountain  side,  from  which  she  sometimes  rises 
in  clouds  which  the  natives  say  are  the  sure  sign  of 
rain. 

Whether  this  Maui  legend  has  any  real  connection 
ivith  the  two  Hinas  and  the  famine  we  do  not  surely 
know.  The  legend  ordinarily  told  among  the  Ha- 
waiians  says  that  after  five  days  had  passed  the  re- 
tainers decided  on  their  own  responsibility  to  open  the 
imu.  No  woman  had  appeared  to  give  them  direc- 
tions. Nothing  but  a  mysterious  rain  cloud  over  the 
hill.  In  doubt  and  fear,  the  dirt  was  thrown  off  and 
the  mats  removed.  Nothing  was  found  but  the  ashes 
of  Hina  Kuluua.  There  was  no  food  for  her  followers 
and  the  goddess  had  lost  all  power  of  appearing  as  a 
chiefess.  Her  bitter  and  thoughtless  jealousy  brought 
destruction  upon  herself  and  her  people.  The  ghosts 
of  Hina  Ke  Ahi  and  Hina  Kuluua  sometimes  draw 
near  to  the  old  hills  in  the  form  of  the  fire  of  flowing 
lava  or  clouds  of  rain  while  the  old  men  and  women 
tell  the  story  of  the  Hinas,  the  sisters  of  Maui,  who 
were  laid  upon  the  burning  stones  of  the  imus  of  a 
famiine. 


164 


XV. 
HINA,  THE  WOMAN  IN  THE  MOON. 

^^■HE  Wailuku  river  has  by  its  banks  far  up  the 
I  1  mountain  side  some  of  the  most  ancient  of  the 
^■^  various  interesting  picture  rocks  of  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands.  The  origin  of  the  Hawaiian  picture 
writing  is  a  problem  still  unsolved,  but  the  picture 
rocks  of  the  Wailuku  river  are  called  "na  kii  o  Maui," 
"the  Maui  pictures."  Their  antiquity  is  beyond  ques- 
tion. 

The  most  prominent  figure  cut  in  these  rocks  is 
that  of  the  crescent  moon.  The  Hawaiian  legends  do 
not  attempt  any  direct  explanation  of  the  meaning  of 
this  picture  writing.  The  traditions  of  the  Polyne- 
sians both  concerning  Hina  and  Maui  look  to  Hina 
as  the  moon  goddess  of  their  ancestors,  and  in  some 
measure  the  Hawaiian  stories  confirm  the  traditions 
of  the  other  island  groups  of  the  Pacific. 

Fornander,  in  his  history  of  the  Polynesian  race, 
gives    the    Hawaiian   story   of    Hina's   ascent   to    the 

165 


moon,  but  applies  it  to  a  Hina  the  wife  of  a  chief 
called  Aikanaka  rather  than  to  the  Hina  of  Hilo,  the 
wife  of  Akalana,  the  father  of  ]\Iaui.  However,  For- 
nander  evidently  found  some  difficulty  in  determining 
the  status  of  the  one  to  whom  he  refers  the  legend, 
for  he  calls  her  "the  mysterious  wife  of  Aikanaka." 
In  some  of  the  Hawaiian  legends  Hina,  the  mother 
of  Maui,  lived  on  the  southeast  coast  of  the  Island 
Maui  at  the  foot  of  a  hill  famous  in  Hawaiian  story 
as  Kauiki.  Fornander  says  that  this  "mysterious 
wife"  of  Aikanaka  bore  her  children  Puna  and  Huna, 
the  latter  a  noted  sea-rover  among  the  Polynesians, 
at  the  foot  of  this  hill  Kauiki.  It  can  very  easily  be 
supposed  that  a  legend  of  the  Hina  connected  with 
the  demi-god  Maui  might  be  given  during  the  course 
of  centuries  to  the  other  Flina,  the  mother  of  Huna. 
The  application  of  the  legend  would  make  no  differ- 
ence to  anyone  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  story 
of  Hina  and  her  ascent  to  the  moon  has  been  handed 
down  in  different  forms  among  the  traditions  of 
Samoa,  New  Zealand,  Tonga,  Hervey  Islands,  Fate 
Islands,  Nauru  and  other  Pacific  island  groups.  The 
Polynesian  name  of  the  moon,  Mahina  or  Masina,  is 
derived  from  Hina,  the  goddess  mother  of  Maui.  It 
is  even  possible  to  trace  the  name  back  to  "Sin,"  the 
moon  god  of  the  Assyrians. 

The    moon    goddess    of    Ponape    was    Ina-maram. 
(Hawaiian   Hina-malamalama),   "Hina   giving  light." 

166 


In  the  Paumotan  Islands  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  is 
called  Higa-higa-hana  (Hina-hiua-hana),  "The  act 
(hana)  of  Hina — the  moon." 

In  New  Zealand  moonless  nights  were  called  "Dark 
Hina." 

In  Tahiti  it  is  said  there  was  war  among  the  gods. 
They  cursed  the  stars.  Hina  saved  them,  although 
they  lost  a  little  light.  Then  they  cursed  the  sea,  but 
Hina  preserved  the  tides.  They  cursed  the  rivers, 
but  Hina  saved  the  springs — the  moving  waters  in- 
land, like  the  tides  in  the  ocean. 

The  Hawaiians  say  that  Hina  and  her  maidens 
pounded  out  the  softest,  finest  kapa  cloth  on  the  long, 
thick  kapa  board  at  the  foot  of  Kauiki.  Incessantly 
the  restless  sea  dashed  its  spray  over  the  picturesque 
groups  of  splintered  lava  rocks  which  form  the  Kauiki 
headland.  Here  above  the  reach  of  the  surf  still  lies 
the  long,  black  stone  into  wdiich  the  legends  say 
Hina's  kapa  board  was  changed.  Here  Hina  took 
the  leaves  of  the  hala  tree  and,  after  the  manner  of 
the  Hawaiian  women  of  the  ages  past,  braided  m.ats 
for  the  household  to  sleep  upon,  and  from  the  nuts 
of  the  kukui  trees  fashioned  the  torches  which  were 
burned  around  the  homes  of  those  of  high  chief  rank. 

At  last  she  became  weary  of  her  work  among  mor- 
tals. Her  family  had  become  more  and  more  trouble- 
some. It  was  said  that  her  sons  were  unruly  and  her 
husband   lazy   and   shiftless.       She    looked    into   the 

167 


heavens  and  determined  to  flee  up  the  pathway  of 
her  rainbow  through  the  clouds. 

The  Sun  was  very  bright  and  Hina  said,  "I  will  go 
to  the  Sun."  So  she  left  her  home  very  early  in  the 
morning  and  climbed  up,  higher,  higher,  until  the 
heat  of  the  rays  of  the  sun  beat  strongly  upon  her  and 
weakened  her  so  that  she  could  scarcely  crawl  along 
her  beautiful  path.  Up  a  little  higher  and  the  clouds 
no  longer  gave  her  even  the  least  shadow.  The  heat 
from  the  sun  was  so  great  that  she  began  to  feel  the 
fire  shriveling  and  torturing  her.  Quickly  she  slipped 
down  into  the  storms  around  her  rainbow  and  then 
back  to  earth.  As  the  day  passed  her  strength  came 
back,  and  when  the  full  moon  rose  through  the 
shadows  of  the  night  she  said,  "I  will  climh  to  the 
moon  and  there  find  rest." 

But  when  Hina  began  to  go  upward  her  husband 
saw  her  and  called  to  her:  "Do  not  go  into  the 
heavens."  She  answered  him :  "My  mind  is  fixed ;  I 
will  go  to  my  new  husband,  the  moon."  And  she 
cHmbed  up  higher  and  higher.  Her  husband  ran  to- 
ward her.  She  was  almost  out  of  reach,  but  he  leaped 
and  caught  her  foot.  This  did  not  deter  Hina  from 
her  purpose.  She  shook  off  her  husband,  but  as  he  fell 
he  broke  her  leg  so  that  the  lower  part  came  off  in  his 
hands.  Hina  went  up  through  the  stars,  crying  out 
the  strongest  incantations  she  could  use.  The  powers 
of  the   night  aided   her.       The   mysterious   hands  of 

168 


darkness  lifted  her,  until  she  stood  at  the  door  of  the 
moon.  She  had  packed  her  calabash  with  her  most 
priceless  possessions  and  had  carried  it  with  her  even 
when  injured  by  her  cruel  husband.  With  her  cala- 
bash she  limped  into  the  moon  and  found  her  abiding 
home.  When  the  moon  is  full,  the  Hawaiians  of  the 
long  ago,  aye  and  even  today,  look  into  the  quiet, 
silvery  light  and  see  the  goddess  in  her  celestial  home, 
her  calabash  by  her  side. 

The  natives  call  her  now  Lono-moku,  "the  crippled 
Lono."  From  this  watch  tower  in  the  heavens  she 
pointed  out  to  Kahai,  one  of  her  descendents,  the  way 
to  rise  up  into  the  skies.  The  ancient  chant  thus  de- 
scribes his  ascent: 

"The  rainbow  is  the  path  of  Kahai. 
Kahai  rose.     Kahai  bestirred  himself. 
Kahai  passed  on  the  floating  cloud  of  Kane. 
Perplexed  were  the  eyes  of  Alihi. 
Kahai  passed  on  on  the  glancing  light. 
The  glancing  light   on  men   and  canoes. 
Above  was  Hanaiakamalama."      (Hina). 

Thus  under  the  care  of  his  ancestress  Hina,  Kahai, 
the  great  sea-rover,  made  his  ascent  in  quest  of  ad- 
ventures among  the  immortals. 

In  the  Tongan  Islands  the  legends  say  that  Hina 
remains  in  the  moon  watching  over  the  "fire-walkers" 
as  their  great  protecting  goddess. 

169 


The  Hervey  Island  traditions  say  that  the  Moon 
(Marama)  had  often  seen  Hina  and  admired  her,  and 
at  last  had  come  down  and  caught  her  up  to  live  with 
himself.  The  moonlight  in  its  glory  is  called  Ina- 
motea,  "the  brightness  of  Ina." 

The  story  as  told  on  Atiu  Island  (one  of  the  So- 
ciety group)  is  that  Hina  took  her  human  husband 
with  her  to  the  moon,  where  they  dwelt  happily  for  a 
time,  but  as  he  grew  old  she  prepared  a  rainbow,  down 
which  he  descended  to  the  earth  to  die,  leaving  Hina 
forevermore  as  "the  woman  in  the  moon."  The 
Savage  Islanders  worshiped  the  spirits  of  their  an- 
cestors, saying  that  many  of  them  went  up  to  the 
land  of  Sina,  the  always  bright  land  in  the  skies.  To 
the  natives  of  Nine  Island,  Hina  has  been  the  god- 
dess ruling  over  all  tapa  m^aking.  They  say  that  her 
home  is  "Motu  a  Hina,"  "the  island  of  Hina,"  the 
home  of  the  dead  in  the  skies. 

The  Samoans  said  that  the  Moon  received  Hina  and 
a  child,  and  also  her  tapa  board  and  mallet  and  mate- 
rial for  the  manufacture  of  tapa  cloth.  Therefore, 
when  the  moon  is  shining  in  full  splendor,  they  shade 
their  eyes  and  look  for  the  goddess  and  the  tools  with 
which  she  fashions  the  tapa  clouds  in  the  heavens. 

The  New  Zealand  legend  says  that  the  woman  went 
after  water  in  the  night.  As  she  passed  down  the 
path  to  the  spring  the  bright  light  of  the  full  moon 
made  the  way  easy  for  her  quick  footsteps,  but  when 

170 


she  had  filled  her  calabash  and  started  homeward, 
suddenly  the  bright  light  was  hidden  by  a  passing 
cloud  and  she  stumbled  against  a  stone  in  the  path 
and  fell  to  the  ground,  spilling  the  water  she  was  car- 
rying. Then  she  became  very  angry  and  cursed  the 
moon  heartily.  Then  the  moon  became  angry  and 
swiftly  swept  down  upon  her  from  the  skies,  grasp- 
ing her  and  lifting  her  up.  In  her  terrible  fight  she 
caught  a  small  tree  with  one  hand  and  her  calabash 
with  the  other.  But  oh !  the  strong  moon  pulled  her 
up  with  the  tree  and  the  calabash  and  there  in  the 
full  moon  they  can  all  be  traced  when  the  nights  are 
clear. 

Pleasant  or  Nauru  Island,  in  which  a  missionary 
from  Central  Union  Church,  Honolulu,  is  laboring, 
tells  the  story  of  Gigu,  a  beautiful  young  woman,  who 
has  many  of  the  experiences  of  Hina.  She  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  Mother  of  the  Moon  as  Hina,  in  some  of 
the  Polynesian  legends,  is  represented  to  have  opened 
the  eyes  of  one  of  the  great  goddesses,  and  in  reward 
is  married  to  Maraman,  the  Moon,  with  whom  she 
lives  ever  after,  and  in  whose  embrace  she  can  always 
be  seen  Avhen  the  moon  is  full.  Gigu  is  Hina  under 
another  and  more  guttural  form  of  speech.  Maraman 
is  the  same  as  Malama,  one  of  the  Polynesian  names 
for  the  moon. 


171 


INDEX 

Page, 

Akea   or  Atea,  see  Wakea    41 

Akalana,  or  Ataranga 3,  4,  166 

Alae  birds 12,  18,  27,  62,  65,  120,  123 

Alae-Huapi   120 

Alae-nui-a-Hina  123 

Ao-tea-roa  23,  93,  106,  108,  128,  137 

Aumakuas   26 

Ava-iki,  or  Hawa-i-ki 5,   37,  41,  52,   72,  137 

Awa   8 

Axe,  stone   93,     94 

Bailing  dish   123 

Bananas   45,     64 

Banyan  56,     71 

Barbs,  spears   79,  101 

Birds    85,  110,  112,  135,  144 

Bird-machine    125 

Birds,  painted 85,  112 

Black  rock    32,     48 

Boiling  pots    100,  152 

Bones,   fish  hooks    15,     83 

Brittany    57 

Bua-Tarana-ga 5 

Cain   and  Abel    89 

Calabash    19,  31,  84,  115 

Cannibalism 91,  93 

Canoe,  Maui 's    28,   118,  150 

Cats-cradle    86 

Cloud,    Maui  's-ao-opua    150 

172 


Page. 

Coco-nut   Island    19,  26 

Cook,   Captain    7 

Cooking  the   rain    163 

Coral    29 

Creation    4,   80,  86 

Crocodile    148 

Death  25,  38,  67,  82,  137,  170 

Death  chant    138 

Dog    80,102 

Dragon    97,  148,  153 

Earth   twisted    12,     15 

Eclipse   42,  158 

Eel    7,  33,  83,  94,  130 

Eel   baskets    79,  102 

Eight-eyed   83,  124 

Ellis,   William    84 

Egypt     44 

Evolution   85,  103,  109,  132 

Fairies  113 

Fire-finding — 

Australia     59 

Bowditch  Islands    76 

Chatham   Islands    75 

De  Peysters  Islands    59 

Hawaii    61,  120 

Hervey  Islands    67,     70 

Indians    57 

New  Zealand   67,  74,     88 

Peruvians    59 

Samoa    67,     70 

173 


Page. 

Savage  Islands  67,  72 

Society  Islands    66,  72 

Tartary    59 

Tokelau   Island    67 

First  man   89 

Fishing  up  islands — 

Hawaii  14,  18,  26 

Hervey    Islands     26 

New    Hebrides    25 

New  Zealand    19,  88 

Samoa    24 

Tonga    24,  28 

Fish  hooks   12,  15,  20,  26,  81,  118 

Fish   nets    81 

Flood    25 

Flying  machine   125 

Forbes,   Eev.  A.   0 42 

Fornander,  A 83 

Ganges  154 

Gilbert  Islands  34,  60 

Gill,  W.  W 36 

Gray,  Sir  George   7,  20,  23,  49,  101,  110 

Green   stone    110,  134 

Guardian  of  under-world 4,  5,  17,  70 

Hades    129 

Halai  hills 64,  155 

Hale-a-ka-la 7,  13,  32,  43,  62,  143 

Hale-a-o-a   76 

Hau  tree  

Hau  spirit  Preface 

Haumia-Tiki-Tiki    34 

174 


Page, 

Hawa-iki 5,  35,  37,  137,  154 

Hawaii-loa     29 

Hawke  's  bay   28 

Hele-a-ka-la    122 

Hercules    53,  112 

Hervey  Islands   4,  5,  10 

Hide-and-seek     10 

Hilo   7,  19,  26,  64,  129,  147,  155 

Hina 5,  7,  10,  12,  18,  45,  61,  64,  121,  139 

Hina-a-ke-ahi    3,    27,  157 

Hina-a-ke-ka    123 

Hina-a-te-lepo     91 

Hina-Kulu-ua    157,  161 

Hina-uri     101 

Hine-nui-te-po   23,  123,  133 

Hina's    daughters    156 

Horizon  or   heaven    107 

Human   sacrifices    159 

Hump-baek     125 

Huna    166 

lao    43 

le-ie,   fiber    125 

liwi    113 

Ika-o-Maui    23 

Ili-ahi     66 

Immortality,    Maui    128 

Imu,  oven   , 159 

Ina,  see  Hina   5,  66,  142 

India    154 

Indians,    fire-finding     57 

Indians,  snaring  sun   54 

Ira  Waru    101 

175 


Page. 

Kaahumanu    143 

Ka-alae-huapi    120 

Kahai   ehant    169 

Ka-iwi-o-Pele     18 

Kalakaua    8 

Kalana-Kalanga,   see   Akalana    3,   4,  60 

Kalau-hele-moa    45 

Kamapuaa    83 

Kanaloa   5,  24,  29,  120 

Kane  35,  119,  135 

Kane 's   cave    119 

Kauai    26 

Kauiki,  or  Kauwiki   7,  12,  26,  143,  168 

Kaula  Island 26 

Kipahula     18 

Ki-i-ki-i    6,   32,  143 

Kite-flying    87,    112,  128 

Ko,    spade    94 

Kohala    28 

Koolau   44 

Ku    5 

Kualii    12 

Kuna,  see  Tuna   7,     99 

Ku-olo— Kele    125 

Ku-ula,  fish  god    140 

La,  or  Ea ' 5,     44 

Langi,  Lani    34 

Labaina  32 

Lasso  47,  51,  80,  144 

Lifting  the  sky — 

Elliee    Islands     33 

176 


Page. 

Gilbert  Islands    34 

Hawaii     31 

Hervey  Islands   36 

Manahiki    35 

New  Zealand 34 

Samoa    32 

Liliuokalani  chants 3,  8,  17,  27,     40 

Long   Eel    92 

Lono    34 

Ma-eli-eli   hill    120 

Magic  fish  hook    82 

Mahui,  Mahuika,  Mafuia 5,  60,  68,  73,  132 

Mahina,  or  Masina    166 

Mamo  bird   114 

Manahiki   Islands    24,  80 

Maori    28,  34 

Marama,   or   Malama    166,  171 

Marshall   Islands    60 

Maru    89 

Mauna  Kea    13 

Maui  Akalana — 

Akamai    78,  82 

baptized  10,  133 

birth    6 

bird  or  insect 9,  10,  20,  24,  71,  114,  144 

brothers  3,  6,  14,  22,  24,  78,  107 

canoes    28 

children    82,  93,  137 

creation    4,  80 

death  25,  26 

177 


Page. 

Hawaii    130 

Hervey  Islands   131 

New  Zealand   137 

Samoa    131 

eight-eyed   83 

footprints    25,     33 

god  or  demi-god  4,  148 

home  4,  7,  10,  31,  119 

hook    12,   15,  19,  26,     28 

of  the  malo Preface 

prophet    84 

Bister    6 

the  swift  64,  117,  121 

uncles    8 

Maui-Mna,  or  Eupe   106,  125 

Maui  Hope   124 

Maui  Waena    3,   124 

Mercury     11 

Moemoe    48 

Mo-o    41,   97,     99 

Moon    41,   89,  134 

Moon,  Hina  the  goddess 147,  156,  165 

Motu,  or  Mokua  Hina    170 

Mndhen   120 

Muri    48,     50 

Nauru  Islands   171 

New  Heavens    107 

New  Hebrides  Islands  25 

New  Zealand   4,  5,  7,       9 

Niu  Islands    33 

178 


Page. 
Oahu  legends — 

Maui  and  the  two  gods   119 

How  they  found  fire    120 

Maui   catching   the   sun    122 

Uniting  the  islands   123 

Maui  and  Pea-pea 124 

Obsidian  109,  134 

Ohia  trees 80 

Olona 81,  114,  117 

0-0,  spade  94 

0-0,  bird   114 

I 

Paoa    29 

Papa    34 

Payton    25 

Pea-pea,  the  eight-eyed    124 

Pearl  Harbor 123 

Peruvians     59 

Pictographs     165 

Pigeon    9 

Pimoe    18 

Pohakunui    64 

Prometheus    57 

Puka-a-Maui    151 

Pumice    stone    38 

Puna    166 

Puu-o-hulu   119,  123 

Ea  or  La,  sun-god   5,     44 

Eainbow  Falls   8,  26,  99,  147 

Earo   Tonga    6,     24 

Eoko     97 

179 


Page. 

Eongo     34 

Ru   5,     35 

Rupe,  Maui-mua   106,  125 

Samoa   5,  24,     29 

Sandalwood    66 

Savage  Islands 

Savaii   29, .  129 

Scorpion    26 

Serpent    33 

Sharks    18,  123 

Short  days   

Sina,  see  Hina  96,  143,  166,  171 

Snaring  the  sun — 

Fiji     54 

Hawaii  42,  122,  144 

Hervey  Islands   52 

Indians    54 

New   Zealand    48 

Samoa    _ .   143 

Society  Islands  41,  50,  53,  143 

Tonga     40 

Snow    89 

Society  Islands   5 

Speara    81 

Spirits,  islands  of    129 

Stone  implements  86,  93,  110 

Sun,    created    41 

Supporter  of  the  Heavens  37 

Tabu   102,  126 

Tahiti   76,     86 

180 


Page. 

Talanga  or  Kalana  5,     68 

Tane,  see  Kane  35 

Tangaroa  or  Kanaloa    6,  24,  25,  34,     66 

Tapa   11,  13,  42,  62,  116,  119,  122,  141 

Taro   121 

Tattooing   80,  104,  136 

Tawhiri    35 

Te-ika-o-Maui     23 

Ti   leaves 125 

TikiSiki  }  ^^'^^  6,25,32,34,60,  68 

Tini-rau    106,  108 

Tokelau  Island    67 

Tonga    28,   40,   89,  129 

Tonga-iti     41 

Tracey  Islands    33 

Tu  or  Ku   35 

Tuna  or  Kuna  91 

Fiji    91 

Hawaii    99,  148 

Hervey  Islands   154 

New  Zealand   92 

Samoa 96 

Turner     24 

Ulua    12,     18 

Under-world 4,  9,  15,  51,  68,  129 

Uniting  the  islands   123 

Upolu    

Vatea,  or  Wakea   41 

Vatupu   Islands    33 

181 


Page. 

Waianae    65,  119 

Waikuna    100,  148 

Wailuku    7,   26,   80,   140,  146 

Waipahu    125 

Waipio    115 

Wakea,  Vatea,  Atea  4,     41 

Water  of  life    134 

White,  John 87,  96,  101,  132 

Wife  of  Maui  91,  124,  137,  156 

Wiliwili    tree     44 

Winds   86,  115 

Woman  in  the  Moon  165 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 

RECEIVED 

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m  19SS 


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OCT  2  2  198t 


1*9  t99f 


AM 
7-4 


DEC  2  71956 

JAN  7  - 1957 


APR  1 1 196E 


returned 


N\/\V  2  2 


^983 


Funii  L-9-35m-8,'28 


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Oa* 


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i3SMni?ll^;2riL/.'^?^RV  FACILITY 


AA    000  656  391 


